Shahid Kapoor was seen in an all new avatar in ‘Udta Punjab’. The film won him a lot of praise for his role and it also starred Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh. However, it was Alia and Shahid’s performance which caught all the attention. In a recent interview, director Abhishek Chaubey has spoken about his film and also the process of casting these actors. He recalled how Shahid instantly jumped on the opportunity to play such a character which comes rarely, or else, he would have just remained ‘Shahid Kapoor’, said the actor, referring to his ‘boy-nex-door’ image. Thus, Shahid was the first one to come on board for the film. Chaubey said in a chat with Friday Talkies, “Shahid came to meet me, and I told him about the story. I didn’t even tell him the whole story, but I just told him about his character and he got very excited. I wasn’t expecting that because he is a hero, why would he play the character of this mad man?”Thus, when Abhishek asked Shahid about his decision to say yes to such a character the actor said, “I will never get a chance to play a character like this. Main Shahid Kapoor banke raha jaunga (I will remain a Shahid Kapoor). This is my chance to do something different.” The director added, “There was never a doubt in his mind.” Interestingly, it was Shahid was suggested Alia’s name for the film. “Shahid was doing Shaandaar with Alia, and he mentioned the film on the set to her. She got really excited and Shahid offered to give her the script to read. Obviously, I didn’t know this all was happening,” revealed Abhishek. However, he was not convinced to cast Alia. He added, “Later, Shahid told me to take Alia in the film, but I had only seen her work in Student Of The Year and I told him, ‘Are you joking? How will she play this role?’ Shahid told me that she is smart but then also… Then I saw Highway and I realised that she’s a good actor. However, I was still scared of casting her.” But it was Alia’s persisitence which convinced him. He revealed, “She told me her intention behind doing the film, and I really liked what she said and I said, ‘let’s do it.’”Abhishek revealed that when he went to approach Kareena, he was scared because of her limited screen time. “After Alia, I met Kareena. She heard the script, she was very happy, but she also said that Shahid and Alia have bigger roles. I convinced her a lot and she very sweetly came on board,” said Chaubey.
