When Gangs Of Wasseypur debuted in 2012, Anurag Kashyap’s film irrevocably altered the landscape of Indian filmmaking. The movie, which starred Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, and Tigmanshu Dhulia, was about the coal mafia (Mafia Raj) of Dhanbad and the underlying power struggles, politics, and vengeance among three crime families. From 1941 to 2009, 68 years went by in its narrative. Rajkummar Rao, who portrayed Shamshad Alam in the movie but Nawazuddin Siddiqui played the primary role, has recently revealed that he was initially contacted to star in it.
Rajkummar Rao revealed this during an interview with Zakir Khan for Netflix India: “After viewing LSD (Love Se Aur Dhokha), Anurag sir phoned me and said I’m creating a movie; come meet me. So when I first met him, all he had was a story—or rather, the outline of a story. And the movie he was narrating at the time was Faisal Khan (Nawazuddin) vs. Shamshad Alam (Rajkummar). I took a little tape recorder to Wasseypur with me and Nawaz so I could record the locals there.
However, Rajkummar’s role was considerably diminished after the final script started to take shape. The Kai Po Che actor was ready to work on the movie despite that. When the writing was complete, three to four months later, he stated, “Anurag sir saw me again and informed me that my role had significantly shrunk. But I remarked, “Sir, no worries.” Would you still do it, he questioned, to which I replied, “Of sure.” I have the opportunity to collaborate with you. And I’m pleased I did, in fact.
Later, Rajkummar appeared in pivotal parts in movies like Citylights, Aligarh, Trapped, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton, Stree, Ludo, The White Tiger, and most recently, Vasan Bala’s over-the-top Monica, O My Darling.