Aditya Dhar says ‘brother’ Mukesh Chhabra stood by Dhurandhar even when his own faith in Ranveer Singh film wavered

Since the success of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, Aditya Dhar has been thanking his team, one by one. Here's what he said about casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

Casting director Mukesh Chhabra is among those on Aditya Dhar’s team for Dhurandhar, who received their share of praise for the film. Now, the director himself took to his social media on Wednesday to reveal how crucial the casting director was for the Ranveer Singh-starrer. He even credited Mukesh for believing in the film when his own faith wavered and for reshaping it.

Mukesh Chhabra is the casting director for Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar films.

Aditya Dhar says Mukesh Chhabra reshaped Dhurandhar

Aditya posted pictures of him and Ranveer with Mukesh from the shooting of Dhurandhar, writing, “Here’s to Mukesh Chhabra, the man who saw Dhurandhar long before I truly did. There are people who come into a film and do their job and then there are people who quietly reshape the film itself. Mukesh was the latter.”

He added that the casting director was fearless while pushing the limits for the film, writing, “From the very first narration, he believed in the scale, the ambition, the sheer possibility of Dhurandhar far more than I did. Where I was cautious, he was fearless. Where I was thinking within limits, he pushed me to think bigger, not just in numbers, but in depth, in detail, in truth.

The casting of this film was never going to be easy. The sheer number of actors, the range of characters, the responsibility of getting every single face right, it was overwhelming. But Mukesh and his team just went all guns blazing.”

Says Mukesh Chhabra believed in Dhurandhar when his faith wavered

Aditya reveals the simple brief he had for Mukesh that he fulfilled, writing, “My only brief to them was simple: bring me great actors, new or old, big or small, it doesn’t matter.
And he turned that into a mission. What followed were endless days and nights, sitting together, breaking down every character, debating, exploring, rejecting, discovering. Conversations that didn’t feel like work but like building something brick by brick with absolute honesty.”

He added that Mukesh went deep for even the smallest role in the film, crediting him for pulling it off. He also added that he found a friend, a well-wisher and a brother in him. “Someone who stood by the film with complete faith, even when mine wavered,” he wrote. “I truly hope this film makes people realise the power of casting as one of the most crucial, yet often overlooked, aspects of filmmaking. It can make a film or break it. And it’s unfortunate that our industry still doesn’t celebrate casting directors the way it should,” Aditya ended his note in hope that this makes filmmakers realise the importance of casting.

An overwhelmed Mukesh replied to him, and a portion of his comment reads, “I keep telling everyone that in the journey of this film, I’ve found a brother in Mumbai—and that means more to me than anything else. Working with you has honestly been one of the best experiences of my life. I have been in this industry for so many years, but the way you treat people—the respect you give to every HOD and every individual on set—is something truly rare.”

About the Dhurandhar films

Dhurandhar was released in theatres in December last year, while Dhurandhar 2 hit screens on March 19. The former collected over ₹1300 crore worldwide, while the latter has crossed ₹1600 crore. Ranveer Singh, Sara Arjun, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor, Gaurav Gera and others make up the film’s lead cast. Dhurandhar 2 is the second-highest-grossing Hindi film after Dangal.