Rajeev Khandelwal opened up about his disappointment at his film Chenab Gandhi with Sanjay Leela Bhansali never going on floors. He said that Bhansali gave him freedom to read the script
Rajeev Khandelwal and Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Actor Rajeev Khandelwal, who is currently seen in Amazon MX Player's courtroom drama series Amar Vishwas, opened up about his long-shelved Chenab Gandhi with one of Bollywood’s biggest filmmakers, Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Khandelwal, who began his career with television and later transitioned to films, shared that working with Bhansali was not an opportunity he could resist, as he was instantly captivated by the script.
Rajeev Khandelwal discusses Chenab Gandhi
In a discussion with Pinkvilla, Rajeev shared how he got the offer. He said, "Knowing that I’m popular, ek commercial film director came to me, jiske baare mein aap sab ko pata hoga. I was signed by a popular filmmaker from our industry. Unhone mujhe sign kiya aur main do film ke deal par tha, par film kabhi take off nahi hui. Since he was a commercial director, the projects seemed commercial, but the script was one of the very few good scripts that I had ever come across."
(Knowing that I am popular, a commercial film director, someone whom you all would know, approached me. He signed me for a two-film deal, but the film never took off)
I’m talking about Chenab Gandhi. Woh maine script ki wajah se kiya tha. I remember telling Mr. Bhansali, ‘aap na mujhe pehle test kare. You tell me that you want me. Post that, give me the liberty to ask you for the script, and also the freedom for me to say no. I know you are a senior director, but sir, aap pehle mere screen test aur look test kar lo. Jis din aap bologe, Rajeev, yes… I want you. Uske baad main script padunga, phir main bhi apna ek right rakhunga haan ya naa bolne ka.’”
(I agreed to do it because of the script. I remember telling Mr. Bhansali, ‘Please test me first. Tell me that you want me. After that, give me the liberty to ask for the script, and also the freedom to say no. I know you are a senior director, but sir, please conduct my screen test and look test first. The day you tell me, “Rajeev, yes… I want you,” after that I will read the script, and then I will also keep my right to say yes or no.’)
“Unhone uss baat ki kadar ki. 15–20 din tak hum milte rahe. Uske baad maine jaakar script padhi. Main script sunkar hil gaya aur maine kaha, ‘I will do it. I wanna do it.’ Not because of the setup, but because of the script.”
(He respected that. We kept meeting for 15–20 days. After that, I went and read the script. I was shaken after hearing it and said, ‘I will do it. I want to do it.’ Not because of the setup, but because of the script.)
Chenab Gandhi was one of the most anticipated projects of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film was going to be a biopic based on the life of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Pashtun freedom fighter also known as Frontier Gandhi.
About Amar Vishwas
The series begins with the brutal murder of an influential film producer Jessu Momin, a case the media is quick to label as ‘open-and-shut’. Suspicion immediately falls on Bahar Chakravarty, a young woman already convicted by public perception. Stepping into the fray is Amar Vishwas, an unconventional and razor-sharp lawyer who knows that facts alone rarely reveal the full story. As Amar takes on Bahar’s defence, he begins to uncover layers of exploitation, manipulation, and long-buried secrets, revealing a conspiracy that runs deeper and darker than it first appears.
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