Why'd I cast Indian actress Deepika for Chinese role: Kabir
Filmmaker Kabir Khan has denied reports of approaching Deepika Padukone to play a Chinese character in Tubelight. He added, "In today's age, you can access actors around the world. Why would you take an Indian actor, especially an actor of Deepika's stature and make her play a Chinese character?" Notably, Chinese actress Zhu Zhu stars in Tubelight.n
Director Kabir Khan is all geared up for his big Eid release Tubelight which stars superstar Salman Khan in the lead role. Previously, Kabir Khan said that Sohail Khan, who plays Salman Khan's brother in Tubelight, was not the first choice for the character. He had some A-list actors like Akshay Kumar in mind for that role. However, the celebration of the brotherhood of the Khan brothers is one of the selling points of the film.Tubelight is the Bollywood debut film of Chinese actor Zhu Zhu. She plays the leading lady in the film. Recently, there have been rumours that before Zhu Zhu was cast for the role, Deepika Padukone was the director's first choice for the character. However, Deepika apparently rejected the role because it was not interesting enough.In an interview with BollywoodLife, Kabir Khan quashed all rumours by saying that Deepika was never a part of Tubelight. "Anybody who thinks Deepika and Zhu Zhu were cast for the same role, they need to have some logic in mind. How Deepika and Zhu Zhu can be cast in the same role is beyond me.""I have never considered Deepika to play a Chinese character. In today's age, you can access actors around the world. Why would you take an Indian actor, especially an actor of Deepika's stature and make her play a Chinese character?" the Ek Tha Tiger director added.In the interview, the director also talked about another upcoming film which was rejected by Salman Khan because he felt suffocated by the prosthetics that his character required.Tubelight, which will also see Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo, is the story of two brothers set against the backdrop of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. The film is set to hit the screens on June 23.