Sathyaraj felt his role in Chennai Express wasn't great, did it anyway for SRK

Sathyaraj made his Bollywood debut with Rohit Shetty's Chennai Express. He recently said that he took up the film because of Shah Rukh Khan.

Actor Sathyaraj, who is best known for his role of Katappa in the Baahubali series, made his Bollywood debut long before he became a household name with Prabhas-starrer. After finding success in the south industry, his first Hindi film was Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s Chennai Express. Talking about it, he recently revealed that he initially wasn’t confident about his role in Chennai Express.

Sathyaraj in Chennai Express.

Directed by Rohit Shetty, Chennai Express starred Sathyaraj as Deepika’s father, Durgesh. While Deepika was seen as Meenamma, Shah Rukh Khan essayed the role of Rahul Mithaiwala. The film was released worldwide on 8 August 2013, and a day later in India.

Recalling his hesitation with Chennai Express, Sathyaraj revealed that he finally took up the film because of his fondness for Shah Rukh Khan. “When the makers approached me for Chennai Express, I heard the story and I felt that it was not that great a role for me. I conveyed this to the director (Rohit Shetty) and also to Shah Rukh Khan, but I eventually did the film, because I like Shah Rukh very much. I like SRK's acting a lot. His films, like DDLJ and several others, did extremely well,” he told ETimes.

While Chennai Express was a success at the box office, Sathyaraj didn’t take up more work in Bollywood. Talking about it, he told Hindustan Times earlier this year, “I do get Hindi offers. I was offered a Tiger Shroff film recently, which required me to be 40 days in London. My family situation is such that I can’t go abroad for those many days. Then there was a film with Vidya Balan, but on the same dates as the one required by Veetla Vishesham. The problem is that I speak fluently only in my mother tongue, even English I barely manage. I can speak other languages if I get a prompt.”

Sathyaraj will be next seen in the Tamil remake of Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer 2018 film Badhaai Ho.