Guddu Dhanoa recalls casting Shah Rukh Khan in Deewana: 'Locked him the moment I saw him'

Shah Rukh Khan was recommended by Shekhar Kapur, and filmmaker Guddu Dhanoa recently discussed the casting of the superstar in his first feature film Deewana and recounted the specifics of their initial meeting.

Shah Rukh Khan's early journey

Fauji and Circus were Shah Rukh Khan's first forays into television in 1989. His breakout role, Deewana, which co-starred Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti, came in 1992. Filmmaker Dhanoa recounted how SRK was cast in the film following Armaan Kohli's departure.

Dhanoa said to Indian Express in an interview that Shekhar Kapur had recommended Shah Rukh to him after Armaan Kohli (Prem Ratan Dhan Payo) had already departed the film. He was thinking, "Who is Shah Rukh Khan?" when Kapur told him to sign SRK; they were on their way to Madras to watch Anjali. Dhanoa further shared, "So he asked me if I had seen Fauji and Circus. I had seen the shows, but I couldn’t recall his face."

First meeting that sealed the deal

According to the filmmaker, he made up his decision quickly after their first encounter in Delhi. He stated, "Once we returned from Madras, I called Shah Rukh and he asked us to come to Delhi. We met at a restaurant at Connaught Place; he exactly entered the place at noon, and I was asking the film’s director, Raj Kanwar (Laadla), at that time who SRK was; I still couldn’t remember his face till then. And when he entered, just at his first glimpse, I locked him for Deewana. He didn’t even know I had already signed him; I didn’t know if he would say yes to me doing the film; I just finalised him. I waved at him; he came and sat down, and we spoke further. When I saw him for the first time, I just thought he was fantastic. He was so perfect for the film."

Dhanoa claims that Khan has maintained his groundedness despite his superstardom even after all these years.

Shah Rukh Khan's personality never changed

The filmmaker shared that since then, SRK has remained completely unchanged. A lot of people's behaviour changes when they're new, but it changes even more when they're famous. According to him, Shah Rukh remained unchanged.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu, Raveena Tandon, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, and Ajay Devgn are just a few of the many actors with whom Guddu Dhanoa has worked throughout his career. Also, he has backed singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh's debut film.

Deewana sequel in the works

Romeo S3 stars Thakur Anoop Singh and Palak Tiwari, and it is being directed by Dhanoa at the moment. Plans for a Deewana sequel were confirmed in an additional interview. He disclosed that the scripting stage is where the film is currently at.