Randeep Hooda turned down Aurangzeb role in Chhaava: ‘Too much Hindu-Muslim narrative’

When Chhaava released in 2025, it not only emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of the year but also earned widespread praise for Akshaye Khanna’s powerful portrayal of Aurangzeb. However, before Akshaye came on board, the role was reportedly offered to Randeep Hooda. At the time, Randeep was already dealing with controversies surrounding his film Swatantrya Veer Savarkar and decided against taking up another politically sensitive project. Explaining his decision, the actor said he “didn’t want to get into the whole Hindu-Muslim thing.” Recently, Randeep opened up about why he turned down Chhaava.

“I love Laxman as a director and as a person. He had first approached me for Aurangzeb in Chhaava. At that time, I was extremely underweight and had my head shaved because I had just wrapped shooting for Savarkar and was busy with post-production. I was also dealing with an IP court case. There was already so much Hindu-Muslim narrative surrounding everything that I just didn’t want to go down that road again,” he told Zoom.

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Randeep Hooda added that his long-standing association with producer Dinesh Vijan played a role in his new collaboration.

“I have worked with Dinesh since his first production, Cocktail. I had a small role in that film because, honestly, I needed money to pay for my horses back then. Since then, we have shared a good relationship. I also admire his sensibilities as a producer, and that’s how this new project happened. I am glad to be a part of it,” he said.

Randeep Hooda is now set to collaborate with Laxman Utekar on Eetah, a biopic based on legendary Marathi Tamasha artist Vithabai Narayangaonkar. The film will star Shraddha Kapoor in the titular role, while Randeep will reportedly play her romantic interest.