Was offered Vicky Kaushal’s part in ‘Lust Stories’: Badshah

PTI, Jul 16, 2019, 4:26 PM IST

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Mumbai: Rapper Badshah maybe starting his acting career with “Khandaani Shafakhana”, but the musician has revealed that Karan Johar had offered him Vicky Kaushal’s part in “Lust Stories” and Diljit Dosanjh’s role in “Good News”.

“Lust Stories”, a Netflix anthology, was released on the streaming platform last year, while Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan-fronted “Good News” is slated to be released in December.

“I had got the role of Vicky Kaushal from ‘Lust Stories’. I felt how can I do this role? When I saw the film I felt Vicky was exceptionally good. I was also offered Diljit Dosanjh’s role in ‘Good News’ and they (makers) were really keen on having me on board. Things were almost finalised but something did not work out. I think Diljit is a better actor than me,” Badshah told PTI.

The rapper said he never rejected the projects at the outset, but things did not materialise due to “some reasons”.

His debut film “Khandaani Shafakhana”, fronted by Sonakshi Sinha, is about a young woman who inherits her uncle’s sex clinic in Punjab.

Badshah quipped the acting offers he has been receiving “have something to do with sex”.

“I was offered ‘Lust Stories’ in which the character was unable to satisfy his wife, in ‘Good News’, it was about a couple opting for a test-tube baby as they can’t conceive.

“Then ‘Khandaani Shafakhana’ came my way, so I was like why films that have something to do with sex are offered to me? I did this one as I wanted to break this jinx.”

He said initially when the makers of “Khandaani Shafakhana” approached him he was a bit hesitant, but got convinced to play the part of a musician, a role that seemed tailor-made for him.

“I had reservations this time as well. I read the script and liked it. But I did not think of taking it up. Bhushan Kumar (producer) told me ‘You are finalised for the film and come on the sets tomorrow’. That’s how it all happened,” he added.

The singer-rapper said more than acting the technical aspect of performing in front of the camera was difficult for him to understand.

“I have no clue where the camera is. When you act you realise, acting is not that difficult the other technicalities are like the mark, angle, light, etc. So you just not have to memorise your lines but keep in mind the mark, the angle and light. It is difficult.”

He said co-star Sonakshi had been of huge help on the sets during the film’s shooting.
The film, directed by Shilpi Das Gupta, also stars Varun Sharma, Annu Kapoor and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.

Co-produced by Krishna Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar and Mahaveer Jain, the film will hit the theatres on August 2.

Badshah said he has been getting acting offers but believes he does not have the knack of identifying a good script.

“There are some offers. I feel I do not have script sense. Like Kartik Aaryan has a very good script sense. Apparently, in his struggling phase he had a friend, who was a scriptwriter and he learnt a lot from him. Whatever script comes to me, I like everything. I think I will have to take help of some friends,” he said.

The Delhi-born musician, whose real name is Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, started his career in the music industry in early 2000s.

He has major chartbusters and party anthems like “Saturday Saturday”, “Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai”, “Ladki Beautiful”, “Kaala Chashma” and “Tamma Tamma Again” among others, to his credit.

The rapper believes filmmakers are eager to cast him due to his pan-India fan following.

“Maybe producers want to tap into it because I already have a fan-following. Sadly, the history of singers becoming successful actors isn’t good, except Diljit paaji. I hope things go well for this film,” he said, adding that music will always be his priority.