Aditya Dhar reveals on casting Vicky Kaushal in ‘Uri’, ‘Everyone called it a big mistake’

Aditya Dhar’s ‘Uri’ catapulted its lead actor Vicky Kaushal to superstardom. ‘Uri’ not only gave Vicky his biggest hit but also showed that he can carry such a big film on his capable shoulders. Aditya Dhar, who is directing Vicky in the film, strongly believes in the concept of ‘anti-casting’- a concept where you break the norm and go against the trend of casting someone for a role.

Aditya, who recently turned producer with ‘Article 370’, talked about this concept of anti-casting in an exclusive conversation with IndiaToday.in. He said, “As an industry we have a concept called typecast which means if an actor gives a successful film then he is cast in similar roles. That’s usually the case because most of our films are projects, they are not films. I’ve got a big star and I have a lot of money, forget the script, let me make the film, I’ll put money on the table. Such is the thought process.”

However, Aditya revealed that he and his team have very different mindsets. He adds, “Where we come from, our background and dedication to our art is extremely important. It is our bread and butter, and we cannot be the ones who do injustice to it, who betray it. I think, like the case of someone like Vicky (Kaushal) in ‘Uri’, everyone told us that we were making a huge mistake.

He further said, at that time everyone went to Ronnie (Screwwala) and said you are making a big mistake, you are making a war film with a skinny guy who has never done a commercial film as a solo hero. Haven’t done it, and you are saying things like this. Important film on his shoulders. So at the end of the day our belief was that we were all working towards doing something extraordinary, and we worked 10 times harder than anyone in this industry because we wanted to prove to them that this is not the place. It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from, what matters more is where you’re going.

Dhar also mentioned that his company believes in respecting the script and then taking it to the lead. He said “I think if you watch our upcoming films, you will see actors who have never been seen in that avatar before. Aditya Jhamble has directed another beautiful film for us called ‘Baramulla’, and it stars Manav Kaul and Bhasha Suri and you have never seen Manav Kaul in that kind of role before. This is a complete change. It is an action comedy starring Yami Gautam and Prateek Gandhi. This is a phenomenal film. It’s a hilarious film and when you see Pratik Gandhi, you’ll say, ‘Why didn’t we think of him like that?’. That’s the fun of anti-casting and I think it also comes from that whole background and that whole thought process that it’s so much fun to prove people wrong.”

Aditya’s next project ‘Article 370’ stars Yami Gautam in the lead role along with Priyamani. This is based on the background of the abolition of Act 370.