Last updated:October 26, 2024, 8:04 PM IST

Vikramaditya Motwane recalled how he had thought of Ajay Devgn while writing Udaan. He mentioned how he had considered Devgn to play the role of the father but he never approached him.

Vikramaditya Motwane finally chose Ronit Roy to play the role of the father in Udaan.

Udaan continues to be one of Vikramaditya Motwane’s best directorial ventures to date. However, it took the director over five years to get the project off the ground. In a recent interview, Motwane revealed that he had considered Ajay Devgn to play the role of the father in the film. However, he decided to go against it as he felt that the actor would then become the focal point of the film.

In a conversation with Mukesh Chhabra, Vikramaditya Motwane revealed that he had thought of Ajay Devgn while writing Udaan. He mentioned how he had Devgn in mind as he was advised to rope in a star in the drama. The director said, “They would tell me to cast a star, but how could I approach someone like Shahid Kapoor? This boy has to look innocent, he has to look 17 years old. It’s true that I always thought on Ajay Devgn when I wrote the film. I still wonder if I should have approached him. I assumed he would say no.”

Motwane said the focal point of Udaan was the young boy, Rohan (played by Rajat Barmecha), and his story. He continued: “In the back of my mind I always knew this was the boy’s film. The poster child for this movie was never the father, it was always the boy. That is why I deliberately did not go in that direction.”

In an earlier interview, Motwane revealed that it was Anurag Kashyap who suggested that he get Ronit Roy to play a role in the film. He mentioned that Roy lived in Kashyap’s building and the head of Gangs Of Wasseypur had suggested his name after he bumped into him in the lift.

Directed by Motwane, Udaan was released in 2010. He had written the script with Kashyap in 2003, but it took him a long time to convince the producers to go for the coming-of-age drama. The film went on to premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. On the work front, Motwane’s latest directorial – CTRL – was recently released on Netflix.