Swara Bhasker says her career is made up of roles rejected by others; recalls Raanjhanaa casting

Swara Bhasker has said that her filmography is mostly made up of roles that were rejected by other artistes. The actor has performed a variety of roles in her career after making her debut in the 2009 film Madholal Keep Walking. She reveals that even the most popular roles of her career came to her because others did not want to do it. Also Read| Swara Bhasker to Twitter user who mocked her for ‘advocating’ hijab but wearing dresses herself: ‘I’m also a hottie’

Swara said her roles in Raanjhanaa, which starred Sonam Kapoor and Dhanush, and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which starred Sonam and Salman Khan, were also initially offered to other people. She added that it doesn’t really bother her, as while saying yes to a role, she does not only think about the box office but also about what she is going to leave behind for people to see.

Asked how she ended up playing characters that weren’t considered mainstream in those times, she told Mid-Day, “I always joke and say that my filmography is made up of roles that were rejected by everybody else. That I did all the stuff that nobody else wanted to do. Even my big-budget roles were ones that nobody did. In Ranjhaana, I was the last person to be cast because they had a sudden last-minute cancellation. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, no actress wanted to play Salman’s sister, so they reached out to me.”

The actor added, “Even for Veere Di Wedding, Rhea was like who to cast and I convinced her to give it to me. In Nil Battey Sannata, people actually said to me that this is career suicide, and Nil Battey remains the most special film of my career, like literally gave me my identity. Similarly, Anaarkali of Aarah, the director literally came back to me after two and a half years after going to everybody else. So I don’t even worry, I’m like koi baat nahi, sabse mana le ke aa jaao (I’m like it’s okay, get everyone’s rejection then come to me).”

Swara added that her choice of scripts is also influenced by her mother, who is a film scholar and goes into the archives and sees films made in the early 90s for her students. The actor said she doesn’t want to be embarrassed in her grave when people see her films in the future.