Maharj director Siddharth P Malhotra recently revealed that his first choice to play the villainous religious leader Maharj Jadunath aka JJ was the late actor Irrfan Khan.
The 2024 historical drama Maharaj marked Aamir Khan's son Junaid Khan's debut. Khan plays the social reformer Karsandas Mulji and and Jaideep Ahlawat essays the villain Maharaj Jadunath Brijratan aka JJ. The film, based on the 1862 Maharaj Libel Case, premiered on Netflix on June 21, a week later after its initial release was halted by Gujarat High Court.
In a press conference held recently, the director Siddharth P Malhotra has revealed that the initial choice to play the titular role was the late actor Irrfan Khan. "The only person we could think of for that role was Irrfan Khan. There was nobody else who could play this role but Irrfan Khan", he said.
After Irrfan's untimely demise in 2020, the filmmaker considered Jaideep Ahlawat to play the villainous religious leader. He added, "I kept telling Jaideep sir there’s only once actor in the entire universe who can do this, and that’s him. He can do anything, he’s one of the best actors we have, undoubtedly. It took us time to convince him to do this, it was a lot of pressure on him. He’s rightfully getting all the love he gets for every film."
In an interview with ANI, Jaideep had also shared that he had initial doubts about doing the film. He told the portal, "In the beginning, I thought that this is a very difficult character. It is not going to be easy to handle. I told my brother that I don’t think I can do this." The turning point for the actor came after he met the director Siddharth, who reassured him with his strong vision and compelling narrative. "The way he narrated Maharaj, I was like, yes, I should do this", the Paatal Lok actor concluded.
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