Abhishek backed out of Raavan's Tamil version
Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, says he opted out of director Mani Ratnam's Tamil version of Raavan, where he was originally slated to play the role of Dev, due to language problems.
"When Mani decided to make Raavan it was only in Hindi. The idea of Tamil version came in later. He told me to swap roles from Beera in Hindi to Dev in Tamil. Even though I agreed initially, I realised that I would not be able to do justice to the role since I am not comfortable with the language," Abhishek told PTI.
"I told Mani that I did not want to do a film in a language which I did not understand. It is important for an actor know the language... Aishwarya is in both the versions because she knows it," he said.
"Even though Mani was adamant, I managed to convince him that I would not be able to do the best job," the actor said.
Moreover, I had my hands full with Beera which was a tough character to play, the actor said.
Southern actor Prithviraj now plays Dev's character in the Tamil version and superstar Vikram essays Raavan. Abhishek clarified that Raavan had no connection with the mythological epic Ramayana.
"It would be futile to unnecessarily draw parallels because the only connection is the name 'Raavan'. It is an apt title for the film because of the different shades of Beera's personality," he said.
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