3 min readNew DelhiApr 3, 2026 07:30 PM IST
The much-awaited sequel of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, hit theatres on March 19. Since its release, the Ranveer Singh starrer has been making headlines. In a recent interview, the film’s casting director, Mukesh Chhabra, opened up about the casting process of the spy thriller. He even recalled several actors turning down the popular role of Rehmaan Dakait, which was eventually played by actor Akshaye Khanna.
During a conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Mukesh shared, “I was narrated the story for four hours. After that, I was in shock. I didn’t even move or take a break. We didn’t even realise when the time passed away. I got scared initially, even after casting for so many films in the past. I had to find so many characters, newer faces, it was a big film.”
Mukesh further added, “If I combine both the parts, I had to do the casting of around 400 people. I made a team of six people and started the search. Aditya gave me full freedom and asked me to think as big as I can. He wanted to surprise people. He already believed that this film will break all the records and all the roles will get a lot of love.”
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Mukesh Chhabra also revealed that Ranveer Singh was the first one to come on board for Dhurandhar. “During the process, many people said no to different roles, but Aditya was calm and asked me to find other actors. It took us almost two years to do the research and cast the actors. We started in the beginning of 2024. We were always clear that Ranveer Singh will be cast as Hamza. He agreed instantly because he was also waiting for the right film.”
When asked about convincing Akshaye Khanna to play the antagonist’s role of Rehmaan Dakait, Mukesh replied, “I can’t take any names but 2-3 actors had said no for his role. I am sure they are regretting that decision today. An actor from South and two from Bollywood gave very weird logic. They said that this is an ensemble cast and its actually Ranveer’s film, but Aditya moves on from negative thoughts quickly.”
Talking about Sara Arjun’s casting as Yalina Jamali, the casting director revealed that he received messages from several actors to cast them opposite Ranveer Singh. “Me and Aditya both were being approached for the role. I told him that we would need someone who doesn’t have any old baggage, so a completely new face would work better. Everyone should believe that this is Yalina only. I wanted to cast for the character and keep it a surprise. We did over 1000 auditions for her role,” he concluded.
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Meanwhile, Dhurandhar The Revenge has already earned over Rs 1500 crore worldwide. Besides Ranveer Singh, the film also stars Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor, and Sara Arjun.
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