Siddhant Chaturvedi reveals he rejected a role in Brahmastra, got blacklisted in casting circle and was tagged ‘arrogant’

Actor Siddhant Chaturvedi made an impactful Bollywood debut with the 2019 film Gullu Boy, starring Ranveer Singh in the lead role. In a recent interview, Siddhant revealed that he faced harsh criticism from the casting community because he let go of the film Brahmastra Part 1 Shiva.

For the unversed, the 2022 blockbuster film Brahmastra Part One Shiva was in production for several years before finally hitting screens. Siddhant was offered the role of one of the superheroes in the Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer.

In an interview with The Lallantop, Siddhant Chaturvedi shared that since there was no script or enough information for him to go on with, he felt unsure of his part in Brahmastra.

“One month before Gully Boy, this (Brahmastra) happened. The makers of a very big film that eventually became the biggest film offered me a part. I had got it through a casting director. It was one of the characters, but it didn’t have any script or audition. They said that you do martial arts, it was an action fantasy film. Ek ashram hai, usme one of the superhero’s ka kirdar mila tha mujhe. So they said I should do it and it’s a VFX heavy project and it will take 5 years to make,” recalled Siddhant.

The actor added, “So I am meeting the main director, the production house is also big and it’s a three-film deal. It was Brahmastra and the role was of one of the superheroes in the ashram. I told Ayan (Mukerji) that give me a script so that I can understand what it is, I am very excited. The script was not there and it was in some very initial stages. And they said that it is a 3-film lock-in. I was not able to understand what to do and there were long lines of audition for that role.”

Siddhant, who eventually took up more films like Bunty Aur Babli 2, Gehraiyaan and Phone Bhoot before Brahmastra even released, faced severe consequences for rejecting the role.

The actor said, “I told the casting director that I won’t be able to do it. He stood up and said, ‘Pagal hai, Dharma ke saath hai, 3 films ka contract hai.’ So I said, ‘Who will watch me, if Amitabh Bachchan is there, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt are there together. At least I should have two lines of dialogue to understand what I will be saying in the film.’”

He added, “Mujhe blacklist kar diya gaya casting se. Blacklist kar diya ki ye toh pagal hai ladka. Badnaam ho gaya tha main casting circuit mein ki ye select ho ke na bol deta hai. They would think ‘Hai kaun bhai tu? Arrogant hai, cocky hai’…Kuch ye mad belief lagta hai ye. Thankfully that film took a lot of time to make. By then Gully Boy had come. I think that character (in Brahmastra) they edited out. It wasn’t in the film. In a way, whatever happened, happened for good.”

Siddhant Chaturvedi will soon be seen in Yudhra.