EXCLUSIVE: Vishal Jethwa Recalls His First Meeting With Aditya Chopra Before Mardaani 2 Went On Floors; Says, “AI Nahi Hai Woh, AC Hain”

Vishal Jethwa is a well known actor thanks to his stellar performance as Akbar in Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap and Sunny in the Mardaani 2. While the 31-year-old actor gets ready to impress the audience with Dharma Production’s next Homebound, he recently sat down with Bollywood Bubble for a podcast and got candid about his debut Bollywood project – Mardaani 2. The actor also recalled his first meeting with producer Aditya Chopra.

Vishal Jethwa On Meeting Aditya Chopra

Talking about meeting Aditya Chopra, Vishal Jethwa said, “Main duniya ke unn 0.1% log main se hu jinhone Aditya Chopra sir ko dhekha hai. Joh bol sakhe Aditya Chopra sach mein hai. Aise koi imaginary producer nahi hai woh, sach mein hai. AI nahi hai (woh), AC hai (laugh).”

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Recalling his first meeting with the head honcho of Yash Raj Films, Jethwa continued, “Bahut, bahut aacha tha. Shanoo ma’am ne hi mujhe milwaya tha. Main unko milne gaya aur unko mera naam pata tha – Vishal. Usne mera audition dhekha, mera naam yaad rakha – yeh bade insaam ki nishani hai.”

Adding that Chopra praised his audition and reminded him that he would be acting opposite Rani Mukerji, Vishal recalled the advice he received. The ‘Salaam Venky’ actor said, “Aapko just apne director ko surrender hona hai aur kaafi mehnat karni hai. First film, debut film bahut matter karti hai. Yeh saari baate (woh) bahut simple language mein bolte hai. Koi hi-fi, ajeeb mannner mein nahi.”

Vishal On Bagging His Debut Bollywood Film

Talking about how he bagged the role of Sunny in Mardaani 2, Vishal Jethwa said, “Instagram pe maine apne ek kind of manager ka number daala aur fir unse call aaya ki ‘Yash Raj Films se call aaya hai aapko’. Maine socha yeh kya hai? ‘Yeh kuch fans honge bus baat karne ke liye YRF ka naam le rahe hai, yeh jhoot hai. Mujhe Yash Raj ka call kyu ayega?’ Fir daar laga ki baat YRF ki ho rahi hai. Chance leke dhek leta hu. Fir maine call lagaya unko ki ‘Aapne call kiya tha?'”

Adding that he gave a couple of auditions after YRF personnel reiterating that they were genuinely calling from the production studio, Vishal said, “Auditions kiya, koi selection ke liye kuch aaya nahi. Chota sa role tha, par audition mera aacha gaya tha kaafi, toh (casting director) bade interested the ki ladka kaam toh aacha karta hai.” He continued, “Uske baad ek aur film ke miye wahi pe audition ho raha tha. Fir mein audition dene ke liye gaya – I think Prithiviraj Chauhan ya Shamshera, dono films mein chote chote roles ke liye try kar raha tha, aur dono auditions mein mera selection nahi hua. Fir suddenly mujhe Mardaani 2 ke liye audition ke liye Shanoo ma’am ne bulaya tha.”

Ab Vishal, Udd Le Tu

After recalling his first interaction with Shanoo Sharma, Vishal added, “Fir kuch rounds of auditions (hua) aur ek test toh mera kaafi aacha gaya tha. Raat ko main soya tha aur Shanoo ma’am ka call aaya. She said, ‘Aap aache actor ho.’ Unhone mujhe bahut praise kiya. (After a while) ma’am ne kaha, ‘Dhek, maine toh tujhe select karke aage bhej diya. Ab Vishal, udd le tu.'”

He added that when he was called to Yash Raj Studios, he took his mother with him.

Watch Vishal Jethwa’s full interview here:

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Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Patla-Sukda’ Vishal Jethwa Reveals Bagging Akbar’s Role In Maharana Pratap After 2 FAILED Attempts; Says, “Agar Main Casting Director Hota Toh Shayad…”