2024-05-01 08:49:18
Even today one gets goosebumps watching the film ‘Sarfarosh‘ released in 1999. In this film, Aamir had given life to the character of ACP Ajay Singh Rathore. This film was released some time before the Kargil war and created enthusiasm among every countryman. But do you know that Aamir Khan was not the first choice for ‘Sarfarosh’? The makers wanted to cast Shahrukh Khan in this film and the reason for this was the desire to earn more money. ‘Sarfarosh’ director John Mathew Matthan has revealed this in an interview. He also told about the sequel of the film i.e. ‘Sarfarosh 2’. It has been 25 years since Sarfarosh was released. The story of the film was about a young man who leaves medical studies after his brother is killed and father is injured by terrorists. He joins the Indian Police Service so that he can eliminate the terrorists. John Mathew Matthan had decided to cast Aamir Khan for this role, but the filmmakers did not want it.
Aamir Khan in Sarfarosh, Photo: YouTube Grab
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Director’s revelation – Makers wanted Shahrukh in ‘Sarfarosh’
John Mathew Matthan told ‘Indian Express’, ‘I met my friend Manmohan Shetty, who was the owner of Adlabs, and told him that I wanted to make a film. Around the same time, Manmohan Shetty started Entertainment One to produce feature films. He had funded two films of my friends, which featured Shahrukh Khan. One was Vikram Mehrotra’s ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na’, directed by Kundan Shah, and the other was Praveen Nischal’s ‘English Babu Desi Mem’. Shahrukh Khan acted in both. So at that time, they all suggested that I take Shahrukh. I said, ‘Listen, I don’t think Shahrukh is suitable for my role. He is not in my mind. But he said we would save more money because all three of us could get a good deal. But I didn’t do that.
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The story of casting Aamir in ‘Sarfarosh’
John Mathew Matthan further told how he had decided to cast Aamir in ‘Sarfarosh’ and what was the actor’s response. He said, ‘Earlier I used to watch a lot of Hindi films. By the time I came to college, I had seen almost all Hindi films. But in the 1980s, so many useless Hindi films started being made that I stopped watching them. Then I started thinking about my film and went to Rajasthan and then Delhi, where I started doing research. During that time, I was living in a small guesthouse in Delhi. There on TV I saw a small scene from Aamir’s film, where his character was about to rape Madhuri Dixit’s character. And I thought this guy seemed honest, he wouldn’t do anything wrong to this girl and it was just an act. But I felt Aamir was suitable for this role. He was not a big star then. When I came back to Mumbai, I started working on ‘Sarfarosh’ keeping Aamir in mind.
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Aamir Khan said yes as soon as he read the script
John Mathew further said, ‘Then I met Aamir. She read the script and said yes. So then I started studying Aamir and what he had done. He only did love stories. I thought it was cool because he was polite. I needed a hero who can transform and then you support him because you think this guy is very weak. In a true film like ‘Sarfarosh’, I wanted the audience to feel for the young man. Keeping these three things in mind, I was sure that I wanted to cast Aamir in the film.
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Director said this on ‘Sarfarosh 2’ with Aamir
John Mathew made some more films after ‘Sarfarosh’ and then took a break from direction. However, now he wants to make a comeback with ‘Sarfarosh 2’. John Mathew told that he met Aamir a few days ago and he wants to screen ‘Sarfarosh’ for the entire cast-crew on completion of 25 years of the film. John told that Aamir has shown interest in ‘Sarfarosh 2’. He is also ready to make it himself, provided he gets complete freedom and choice to work as per his wish. John Mathew said that he is looking for a story with which he can make ‘Sarfarosh 2’.