Not Saif Ali Khan, THIS actor was first choice for Langda Tyagi’s role in Omkara, got rejected due to…, his name is…

In 2006, director Vishal Bharadwaj decided to adapt Shakespeare’s Othello and give it his touch, creating Omkara. After a lot of brainstorming, the makers finalised Ajay Devgn as the lead. However, recently, Omkara’s writer Robin Bhatt, explained that after finalising Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor for the lead roles, they were in a pickle when it came to casting Langda Tyagi, as there were two superstars interested in portraying that part.

Aamir Khan was first offered Langda Tyagi’s role in Omkara

In a conversation with Friday Talkies, Robin explained, “Aamir was ready to do the villain’s role. The second choice we had was Saif Ali Khan. However, at one point, we decided that Aamir was not the right choice for the film.” Langda Tyagi’s role than eventually landed in Saif Ali Khan’s kitty, but there was a challenge!

Robin revealed that Saif wasn’t familiar with the local language of Western UP, where the entire film was set. But, he was eager to give his best and put a lot of efforts into the character. He went through several changes including cutting his hair and hiring a tutor to improve his dialect. He recalled, “Saif’s problem was the language required here. But then he started going for tuitions, he started training with another, chopped his hair.”

Saif practiced a lot to get into the skin of the character. It was quite a different character from what he usually played before. Well, his hard work indeed paid off, as he impressed not just director Vishal Bharadwaj, but masses as well with his dark villainous performance. His portrayal of Langda Tyagi is considered one of his best roles till date. After Omkara, Saif gradually ventured doing more serious roles, taking on risks with every new character.

News