Mrunal Thakur auditioned for Jai Gangaajal but Priyanka Chopra got it instead: “What she did, maybe I wouldn’t have…’

While Aditya Roy Kapur is playing a double role for the first time in the thriller Gumraah, his co-star Mrunal Thakur is also essaying the role of a police officer for the first time. Recently, during promotions for Gumraah, Mrunal revealed that she could have played a cop early on in her career but eventually the role in Jai Gangaajal went to Priyanka Chopra. The actor added that Priyanka was the better performer for the part as she wasn’t ready at that point in her career. (Also read: Gumraah trailer: Aditya Roy Kapur stars as identical suspects in this intriguing murder mystery)

In Gumraah, directed by Vardhan Ketkar, Mrunal plays Inspector Shivani Mathur who is assigned a murder case in which there are two lookalike suspects (both played by Aditya). It complicates the mystery of who committed the crime. The film also Ronit Roy and the actor revealed that there are several twists and turns in the film. The actor also shared that she had heard about the Gumraah way back in 2019; the film was delayed several times for many reasons.

At an event, Mrunal told News18 that she took the Jai Gangaajal rejection in her stride, as she was a fan of Priyanka’s. She shared, “What she did in the movie, maybe I wouldn’t have been able to do at that point. I wasn’t ready.” The incident helped her learn how to tackle rejection. Jai Gangaajal, directed by Prakash Jha, is the sequel to Gangaajal (2003).

Mrunal made her Hindi film debut eventually with the film Love Sonia, directed by Tabrez Noorani. Love Sonia had an ensemble cast that starred Riya Sisodiya, Freida Pinto, Demi Moore, Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadha, Anupam Kher, Adil Hussain, Rajkummar Rao, and Sai Tamhankar.

The actor also told Bollywood Hungama that her role in Gumraah as a police officer was the first time her character had a job. She said, “The moment you wear the uniform you feel powerful, of course. Obviously, I’ve never worn a uniform, I don’t know what it feels to be a cop. [My] previous roles have always been about relationship(s) – daughter, lover or a wife. For the first time, I was at a job. I felt like I was born to play Shivani.”

Mrunal was last seen in the Telugu romantic drama Sita Ramam (2022) with Dulquer Salmaan. She also has the films Pippa and Aankh Micholi lined up for release this year and is starring with Nani in his next Telugu film, Nani 30.