Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh: Was Rajkumar Rao really the first choice to play Nathuram Godse?

Rajkumar Santoshi, a multiple National Award-winning filmmaker, revealed his first choice for the role of Nathuram Godse in Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh. 

Santoshi said, "Chinmay Mandlekar was my first choice to play Godse. I read somewhere that I had approached Rajkummar Rao to play this character, but that's not true. He is a good actor, no doubt. But from the inception of the story, I decided not to cast an established actor or star, but a lesser-known face. So, when our casting director suggested Chinmay's name, I met him. I saw the sincerity in him. Later, I got to know that he studied at the National School of Drama, which is a very good school that has produced some of the finest actors in our country. I respect that school."

Chinmay is a prominent name in Marathi cinema and became popular nationally for his performance as an antagonist in The Kashmir Files. While Chinmay plays Godse, Deepak Antani, a veteran theatre artiste who has played Gandhi in several plays, plays the Mahatma in the film.

Santoshi said that he was sure from the beginning that he wanted to cast actors from two regions: Maharashtra and Gujarat.

"I wanted to cast a Marathi actor for Godse and a Gujarati actor for Gandhi's character. You see, even though it is a Hindi film, actors who speak Marathi and Gujarati bring the natural touch of their mother tongues to their Hindi, and that adds a layer of authenticity to their performance," explained the filmmaker.

AR Rahman has composed the soundtrack for Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh, which also stars Tanish Santoshi, Pawan Chopra, Anuj Saini, Sharad Singh and Arif Zakaria. It releases in theatres on Republic Day.