While Nawazuddin Siddiqui looks like a spitting image of Balasaheb Thackeray in his upcoming biopic, makers were contemplating to get another actor on board for it. Yes, the Manto star was never the first choice to play the iconic political leader and he was signed only after this actor in question was not able to allot the required number of dates for the film. Who is the actor are we talking about? Well, it's no brainer that he was Irrfan Khan. Yes, the film's casting director, Rohan Mapuskar, was eager to get the Lunchbox actor on board for this political drama but he was then shooting for his other projects. Which Film Will Open Well at the Box Office - Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi or Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Thackeray?

In his recent conversation with Mid-Day, Rohan revealed how Nawazuddin was not his first choice but Sanjay Raut and director Abhijit Panse convinced him otherwise. While speaking about the same, he said, "Director Abhijit Pande, Sanjay Raut and I were brainstorming on who we'd like to cast and were contemplating Irrfan. We had his image to see if it matched that of Mr Thackeray and were convinced. However, since the star was then busy, he said he'd consider the offer only after one or two months. Later after a subsequent discussion with the team once again, Nawaz's name popped up and they decided to go ahead with it. Bal Thackeray Portrait Made Using 33,000 Rudraksha Beads Displayed in Front of Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar; See Pics.

And not just Nawaz but even Amrita Rao wasn't really the first name that came to their minds while thinking about an actress who would play Meenatai Thackeray. Revealing details about this, Mapuskar said, “Whenever I cast for a film like this, I believe it's important that faces and looks should match. So, when I was researching and sketches were being made, we first thought of Rasika Dugal. But she had recently starred in Manto with Nawazuddin, so we didn't want to repeat or else, it'd have been a typecast." That's how the Vivaah actress was able to replace Dugal and rest as they say is history.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 25, 2019 08:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).