Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia had a tough time casting actors for his forthcoming film Raagdesh as he says that iconic stars don't do justice to real-life characters. Dhulia, whose last directorial project Bullett Raja was released four years ago, says it was not easy for him to cast three faces to play the INA (Indian National Army) soldiers in Raagdesh. He finally zeroed in on actors Kunal Kapoor, Mohit Marwah and Amit Sadh for lead roles. The three actors play the role of Shah Nawaz Khan, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Prem Sahgal respectively. "It was very important not to cast known stars as these real-life soldiers from Subhas Chandra Bose's army. I firmly believe iconic stars do not do not justice to real-life characters," Dhulia said. Citing example of Hollywood actor Ben Kingsley, who played Mahatma Gandhi in 1982 film Gandhi by Richard Attenborough, the director added, "When Ben Kingsley played Gandhi nobody knew him. Because of his relatively unexposed personality, he became stamped as Mahatma Gandhi for a lifetime. I hope Mohit, Kunal and Amit become the faces of the three INA soldiers in the audiences' mind." For the role of Subhas Chandra Bose, Tigmanshu has roped in Assamese actor Kenny Basumatary. "He was already working with me in my other film while I was looking for an actor to play Subhas Chandra Bose. I suddenly realised Kenny has a striking resemblance to Bose," he added. Raagdesh, is a film that salutes the heroes of the Indian National Army. It revolves around the Red Fort trial of the three INA officers. It was specially screened for the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Raagdesh is slated to be released on July 28.
