Panipat trailer with Ashutosh Gowariker’s commentary: Director says Sanjay, Arjun, Kriti were always first choices

Watch the trailer for Panipat with a special commentary from director Ashutosh Gowariker. Here, he talks about his film and actors.

Filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker is back with another mammoth project. This time, he is telling the story of the third battle of Panipat, fought in the 18th century.

Sanjay Dutt plays Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali in Panipat.

In a new video shred by IMDb, Gowariker has given his commentary to the film’s trailer, which was released earlier the month. Through the video, he talks why he picked up this story, the process he went through and the choice of actors for the film. He says that Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon were always his first choices as Ahmad Shah Abdali, Sadashiv Rao and Parvati Bai respectively.

“The special thing is that for all three characters, I knew it from the scripting stage itself that I wanted only Sanjay Dutt as Abdali, Arjun and Kriti,” he says in the video. He also talked about the support his actors gave to the film. “Arjun stayed bald for six months and all that contributed towards the authenticity of the film,” he added.

Arjun recently talked about how Gowariker has portrayed a very important chapter of Indian history in the most glorious way possible through the film. Kriti also praised the director. “This is my first-period drama, playing a character that is lived in history for the very first time is very special and working with Ashutosh Gowariker is also a big thing for me,” she said.

Gowariker explained how it is a big task to make a film on a historical subject. “When you choose a historical movie, the responsibility begins from the writing of the script. My approach is to make sure that the movie should be authentic and realistic. The audience should have the feeling that this is how it must have happened,” he said.

War drama Panipat also features Padmini Kolhapure, Mohnish Bahl, Kunal Kapoor, and Zeenat Aman. It is slated to hit the screen on December 6.

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