Mrunal Thakur was considered for Anushka Sharma’s role in Sultan, says Salman Khan: ‘She did not look like a wrestler’

The star cast of the upcoming film Jersey - Shahid Kapoor and Mrunal Thakur- appeared on the Bigg Boss Weekend Ka Vaar episode that aired on Sunday. It was here that host Salman Khan revealed a hitherto unknown fact- that at one point, Mrunal was set to begin her Bollywood journey opposite him.

During the episode, immediately after Salman welcomed the two guests on to the set, he revealed that Mrunal was the original choice for the female lead in his 2016 hit Sultan. The role was eventually played by Anushka Sharma. Talking to Shahid, Salman said in Hindi, “Mrunal had come to my farmhouse (in Panvel). Ali (Abbas Zafar, Sultan’s director) had brought her.” Shahid was visibly amazed by the revelation.

Salman then went on to elaborate on why Mrunal did not land the role. “Uss waqt yeh pehelwan type nahin lagti thi (At that time, she did not look like a wrestler),” he said. Sultan, where Salman played the titular character, was the story of a down-and-out wrestler who finds a second wind in mixed martial arts. The film’s female lead, played by Anushka, was an international wrestler herself. Mrunal defended herself to Shahid, saying, “Let me tell you Shahid, at that time, I had lost a lot of weight.”

Mrunal eventually made her Bollywood debut with the 2018 film Love Sonia, before getting noticed in Super 30 and Toofan. Before her entry in Bollywood, she had worked in a couple of Marathi films apart from several mainstream TV shows, most notably Kumkum Bhagya. 

Prior to Sultan’s release, there had been rumours that Mrunal was to play the second lead. But Salman clarified that she was in talks to play the lead role. Speaking with DNA in 2018, Mrunal had opened up about not getting a part in the film. “Things might happen or not happen, what matters is the journey. Of course, I felt bad that it did not work out, but I am glad I at least got a chance to interact with them (Aditya Chopra and Salman Khan),” she had said.

Mrunal will next be seen opposite Shahid Kapoor in Jersey, which releases on December 31. The film is a remake of the hit Telugu film of the same name, which starred Nani and Shraddha Srinath.