Superstar Salman Khan is known for portraying many iconic roles on-screen. And one of his most memorable and cherishable characters is that of Radhe from Tere Naam. Not only his fans, but the actor himself has admitted multiple times that it was indeed a very special film for him. The movie came after Salman gave a few flops in line. It was a kind of revival of his career. Famous filmmaker Satish Kaushik directed the film.
But did you know that he was not the first choice for the film as a director and it was Anurag Kashyap who was chosen to helm the film? If not, read on!
It so happened that Anurag did not find Salman perfect for the role and asked him to bring certain changes to his personality to fit into the shoes of a UP boy. Anurag demanded Salman grow chest hair to play Radhe on-screen. Salman and the production house did not like Anurag’s recommendations and so he was ousted.
In an interaction with a leading daily, Anurag opened up on the same and shared the entire story.
“I was assigned the film by producers. While I was all set to be the director of Tere Naam, I felt that Salman won’t fit for the role because the character of the film was a resident of the area of Mathura, Agra. But despite not being convinced with Salman being the hero of the film I asked him to grow some chest hair to make the character look the real UP wala as UP boys don’t have shaved chests. When I told this to Salman, he was only staring at me and he didn’t say a word. The next day I got a call from the producer of the film and called for a meeting. As soon as I reached to meet, the producer threw the glass at me and started abusing saying, ‘Tu Salman ko Baal game key liye bolega’,” stated Kashyap.
After kicking Anurag out of the direction duties, Satish Kaushik was given the opportunity and the rest is history. The film Tere Naam became a blockbuster of the year 2003. The craze of the film is still unmatchable.