Before Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in Chhaava, was Vicky Kaushal set to play Aurangzeb?
While Vicky Kaushal was showered with praises left, right and center for his portrayal of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in Chhaava, the renowned Bollywood actor was originally cast as Aurangzeb. But there is the catch! He was set to play the Mughal emperor in a completely different movie.
New Delhi: Earlier in 2025, Vicky Kaushal received immense praise from cinema lovers for portraying Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in Chhaava. From his powerful dialogue delivery to his compelling body language, the renowned Bollywood actor excelled in every aspect, solidifying the role as one of his career-best performances. While the 36-year-old actor waged war against Aurangzeb in the historical film, not many know that he was once set to play the sixth Mughal emperor onscreen. No, we are not kidding! Well, let us enlighten you.
Here, we are not talking about Chhaava. According to a TV9Hindi report, Vicky was originally cast as Aurangzeb in Karan Johar's ambitious project Takht. It is believed that Ranveer Singh, Anil Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar were also part of the film.
Expressing his excitement about Takht, Vicky told Filmfare in 2020 that the film had a massive star cast and he was thrilled to witness all the actors sharing the screen. He also hoped that he would not overact out of excitement and that the film would shape up well.
However, Takht never went into production. It remains unclear whether the project will ever materialise. And, as a result, moviegoers are deprived of the opportunity to see Vicky as Aurangzeb.
Akshaye Khanna as Aurangzeb
In Chhaava, the role of Aurangzeb was played by Akshaye Khanna, who left a lasting impact on audiences with his performance. The film also starred Rashmika Mandanna as Yesubai Bhonsale, Diana Penty as Zinat-un-Nissa Begum, Ashutosh Rana as Hambirrao Mohite, Vineet Kumar Singh as Kavi Kalash and Kiran Karmarkar as Annaji Datto Sachiv.
Chhaava opened to mostly positive reviews on February 14, 2025, coinciding with Valentine's Day. It achieved the feat of being the biggest Hindi cinema opener of the year. Directed by Laxman Utekar and produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, the movie is said to be an adaptation of the Marathi novel Chhava by Shivaji Sawant.
With inputs from Raghav Jaitly!