Aamir Khan agreed to play Gulshan Kumar in Mogul only after Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan and Kapil Sharma refused

Actor Aamir Khan has said that he approached comedian Kapil Sharma to play Gulshan Kumar in the upcoming biopic, when he was attached to the project only as a producer. The actor on Monday announced that he had re-attached himself in the lead role, after having dropped out when the film’s director’s name cropped up during the #MeToo movement.

In an interview to Hindustan Times, Aamir said that T-Series head and Gulshan Kumar’s son, Bhushan, had always wanted him to be involved in the film in some capacity. Initially attached as a producer, Aamir reached out to Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan and Kapil Sharma to play the part of the late music mogul.

“Actually when Bhushan offered the film to me, I told him I don’t see myself as Gulshanji. He was disappointed, but requested me to produce the film for him. He was very keen for me to be involved in some capacity. I had loved the script, so I agreed to produce,” Aamir said.

Also read: Aamir Khan walks away from Gulshan Kumar biopic due to molestation accusations against director

He added, “Once I came on as producer, I said let’s discuss casting. I felt that I’d like to offer the film to Akshay Kumar. I was aware that things hadn’t worked out earlier between Bhushan and Akshay, but I still wanted to offer the film to him. So, I met Akshay and offered him the film. He did reconsider the offer, but things did not work out. Then I offered the film to Varun Dhawan, but he was busy with too many films. The other person I was very keen to cast was Kapil Sharma. I felt he’d pull off the character very well. But that didn’t work out either. Then Bhushan said, ‘You’ve done your best, aap puri duniya ghoom kar aa gaye ho, lekin mere father ka role karna aap hi ko hai. It’s written that you’ll be doing the film’. And the fact is that I love the script, and it’s a great role, so I said yes.”

Aamir in the interview also explained why he changed his mind to star in the film, after having declared that he wouldn’t want to be associated with the project since its director had been accused of sexual harassment. “At that time I felt that was the right step to take, so I took that. Today I feel differently,” he said.

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