Manoj Pahwa with Rishi Kapoor on the set of Mulk. (Photo: Seema Pahwa/Instagram)Bollywood actor Manoj Pahwa, popular for his comic roles like Bhatia of Office Office, Dilbagh Singh of Singh Is Kinng, faced apprehensions from the team of Mulk about his casting as Rishi Kapoor’s brother in the movie. But director Anubhav Sinha, who knew Pahwa from his theatre days, was confident the actor will pull off the character of Bilal Ali Mohammed.
“When Anubhav Sinha gave me the script of Mulk, he also told me, ‘A lot of people, including my team, are questioning my decision to cast you as Bilal. They are telling me Pahwa is a comedian and people will laugh when he comes on screen. They will think Bhatia sahab aa gaye.’ But Sinha was confident,” shared Pahwa during his appearance on Unfiltered By Samdish.
The actor also shared how during the shoot of Mulk in Lucknow, Rishi Kapoor asked him to eat with him. “A chef from Taj hotel used to cook for him. Being a Kapoor, his food was spread out on the entire table. There were four types of mutton, four kinds of chicken, five kinds of sweets. Anubhav used to tease me saying, ‘Aab toh tum Rishi Kapoor ke saath khaoge. (Now you will eat with Rishi Kapoor only.)’”
A still from Mulk starring Rishi Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa and Taapsee Pannu. Manoj Pahwa shared that after Mulk, people’s perspective towards him changed. He said that people started taking him seriously. During the interview, Pahwa also recalled working with Shammi Kapoor in Anubhav Sinha’s show Shikast and Ranbir Kapoor for an ad.
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“Ranbir Kapoor is an introvert. He speaks less but has a good sense of humour. I told him, ‘I worked with your grand uncle, then your father and now you’. He said, ‘Hopefully, you will also work with my children,’” Pahwa said.
On the work front, Manoj Pahwa was last seen in Anek, helmed by Anubhav Sinha. He will be next seen in Mili, also starring Janhvi Kapoor and Sunny Kaushal
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