Farah Khan reveals Kamal Haasan rejected the antagonist’s role in Main Hoon Na: 'He politely asked me to duck off'

Kamal Haasan rejected a role in Main Hoon Na

Filmmaker Farah Khan made her grand directorial debut with Shah Rukh Khan’s Main Hoon Na and first offered the role of the antagonist, Raghavan Dutta, to Kamal Haasan. However, the veteran actor turned down the offer.

During her recent cooking vlog, Farah visited Shruti Haasan's Mumbai home, where the filmmaker recalled that she once approached the actress’ father to play the antagonist.

Farah told Shruti, "Kamal sir was my first choice for Main Hoon Na, but then Suniel Shetty played that role. I went to Chennai to his office and narrated him the script, and he politely asked me to duck off."

However, Farah did not reveal the reason why Kamal Haasan turned down the project. The role was later played by Suniel Shetty.

The film also stars Zayed Khan, Sushmita Sen, Amrita Rao and Suniel Shetty in key roles. The film was a commercial and critical success with a budget of Rs 25 crore. Main Hoon Na earned Rs 70.40 crore worldwide, becoming a success at the box office.

The film was released in 2004 and follows Shah Rukh Khan as Major Ram Prasad Sharma, an Indian Army officer who goes undercover as a college student to protect a general’s daughter, Sanjana, played by Amrita Rao, while secretly searching for his estranged stepbrother, Lakshman aka Zayed Khan.

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However, Major Ram foils a militant’s plot against the Indo-Pak peace initiative ‘Project Milaap’ along the way while navigating campus life, and mends family ties. The film features songs like Tumse Milke and Main Hoon Na, and its high-energy action sequences have contributed to its popularity.

On the work front, Kamal Haasan was last seen in Thug Life. Meanwhile, Shruti Haasan is currently gearing up to share screen space with superstar Rajinikanth in the upcoming action thriller, Coolie. The film is set to hit the theatres on August 14.