Akshaye Khanna’s role in Chhaava was offered to Avinash Wadhawan, he wasn’t ‘impressed’ by it 

He continued, “I said, ‘Okay, tell me about it’. They said, ‘He doesn’t have too many scenes, just two or three. It’s Aurangzeb’s role’. I asked, ‘What about the look?’ They told me, ‘Sir, you’ll have completely white hair and beard. Aurangzeb is shown as a very old man’. At that point, I wasn’t very impressed. I said, ‘There are only three or four scenes?’ They replied, ‘Yes, sir, but it’s the main villain’.”

Avinash said he decided against even meeting the makers. “So I didn’t even go to meet them. I told them, ‘Bring me something better, something that suits my personality. Why are you turning me into an old villain with a white beard and all that?’ I wasn’t impressed by it at all.” Explaining his decision further, he said, “I even asked them to tell me the story first. They narrated it to me, but there wasn’t anything particularly substantial for Aurangzeb in it. I asked, ‘What scope is there for me as an actor? I’m returning after so many years, and if I come back wearing a fake white beard, I don’t think it’ll have any impact’.”

‘It’s just been my luck’

He added, “Somehow, I became convinced that this role wouldn’t help me. I didn’t want to do something just for the sake of doing it. If I was making a comeback, I wanted it to be with a strong director and a role that really had something to offer. It seems I wasn’t the only one who turned it down. A few others refused it too, because there really wasn’t much in the role. Eventually, they cast Akshaye Khanna, and for whatever reasons, he took it up and did a very good job.”

Also Read | 700 failed auditions, mounting debts: Sharib Hashmi says wife kept his acting dream alive

Reflecting on the film’s success, Avinash said, “The film became a massive blockbuster. It was hugely successful, and people really appreciated that role, even though it had very little screen time and hardly any dialogue. But that’s how life is. Sometimes you reject something, sometimes you accept something, and things turn out differently than you expect. Maybe it’s just been my luck that I’ve always missed out on projects that eventually went on to become huge hits.”

‘I’ve jeopardised my chances’

In the same interview, Avinash also revealed that he was originally offered Shah Rukh Khan’s debut film Deewana, but turned it down because he did not want to play second lead to Rishi Kapoor. Looking back, he credited Shah Rukh’s success to “luck” and said, “He’s a great actor. I like him myself. He deserves to be wherever he is. And wherever I am, I deserve to be here because maine apne pair par kulhadi maari hai, ek bar nahi, do baar nahi, par dus bar (I’ve jeopardised my chances, not even once, twice, but some 10 times).”