Vicky Kaushal Was Judged After Mukesh Chhabra Cast Him As 'Masaan' Lead: 'Arrey, Kisko Hero Le Liya'

Casting director Mukesh Chhabra got candid about casting actor Vicky Kaushal as the lead for Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Masaan’ and how he was judged for his decision. Mukesh revealed that Vicky has done immense hard work before making it big in Bollywood.

Mukesh Chhabra recalled that many initially ridiculed him for casting Vicky as Deepak Kumar in Masaan (2015), which saw the actor headline a movie for the first time. “He has been a hard worker since his initial days as an assistant director. He was very dedicated. Be it Raman Raghav 2.0, Masaan or Sanju, I personally auditioned him for these films and hence I have witnessed closely the amount of hard work he does. He used to work non-stop,” Chhabra recalled during a chat with Pinkvilla.

Mukesh revealed that many industry insiders were initially skeptical about whether Vicky would be able to pull off the movie. “Arrey yaar, kisko hero ke role mein cast kar diya (Hey, why did you cast a guy like him as a hero?),” Mukesh quoted them saying. “You can’t say such things about anyone with certainty. With his charm and hard work, he eventually proved everyone wrong. His talent, honesty and sincerity also played a role. But the amount of hard work he has done… Not just Vicky, people like Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana too.”

Kaushal began his film career as an assistant to director Anurag Kashyap in the two-part epic crime film Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) before making his acting debut in the comedy film Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana.

Vicky Kaushal is currently gearing up for the release of the comedy film Bad Newz, in which he shares the screen with Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk. The movie is set to release on July 19.

Directed by Anand Tiwari, Bad Newz is a rom-com where Triptii’s character finds out she’s expecting twins from two different fathers, portrayed by Vicky and Ammy. Its unique storyline has intrigued audiences and sparked curiosity about the movie’s plot.

Recently, Vicky spoke about the upcoming film and said, “for me, shooting this film was like home because Anand Tiwari and Karan Johar, the people I worked with, exuded that feel-good vibe and the script was very good. I found the concept of the film new, and the kind of humour it has, even though I haven’t explored the comedy genre that much as an actor.”