Not Dhanush, this star kid was Aanand L Rai's first choice for Raanjhanaa, he wasn't cast because...

The south superstar Dhanush marked his debut in the Hindi film industry with the 2013 romantic drama Raanjhanaa. Dhanush won the hearts of the audiences with his brilliant performance and was even honoured with the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut in 2014 for the Aanand L Rai directorial. In a recent interview, the filmmaker has shared that the Vada Chennai actor wasn't his first choice for the film and he wanted to cast Ranbir Kapoor, but the latter was busy at that time.

Talking to Bollywood Hungama, Aanand L Rai said, "As a director who had just tasted success with Tanu Weds Manu, if I had more faith in myself, I would have made Tanu Weds Manu 2. But I and Himanshu (Sharma) felt that a story like Raanjhanaa needed to be told. We figured out that what has worked for us is our story, being true to our story and casting."

"An actor who keeps himself simple and lets himself blend into the crowd, which is a difficult thing, I believe, is Ranbir Kapoor, but he was not available at that time and as we were searching for such an actor, we found Dhanush", the director added stating that Raanjhanaa would have only been made with Dhanush.

Also starring Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Swara Bhasker, and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in the leading roles, Raanjhanaa was a major commercial success. Made in Rs 30 crore, the romantic drama earned Rs 60 crore in India and grossed Rs 94 crore worldwide, as per the entertainment tracking portral Sacnilk. The film's music by AR Rahman was also one of the major reasons behind its success. Tum Tak, Piya Milenge, Tu Mun Shudi, Banarasiya, Nazar Laaye, and the Raanjhanaa title track became chartbuster songs.

After Raanjhanaa, Aanand L Rai collaborated with Dhanush again for the 2021 romantic drama Atrangi Re, which also featured Sara Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar. The director's next film Tere Ishk Mein will also be headlined by The Gray Man actor. It is reported that Kriti Sanon will star opposite Dhanush in Tere Ishk Mein.

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