Farhan Akhtar dons many hats, including that of a singer, actor and director. However, the 50-year-old is best known for his directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai, that came out in 2001. The coming-of-age movie starred Akshaye Khanna , Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles, and till date, remains one of the best friendship movies Bollywood has seen.
In a recent discussion with Faye D’Souza on her YouTube channel, Farhan Akhtar shared insights about the casting process for the same. Farhan revealed that he initially approached Akshaye Khanna for the role of Akash Malhotra, a part that eventually went to Aamir Khan. When Aamir expressed a preference for playing Akash rather than the more serious role of Sid, Akshaye graciously agreed to switch roles.
His willingness to accommodate Aamir's request was driven by his dedication to the film's success. Farhan opened up and said, “I have experienced true grace from Akshaye Khanna. When I met him for Dil Chahta Hai, I had offered him the role of Akash, which Aamir ended up doing.
” He further explained, “When I approached Akshaye at that point, I wanted to cast two other younger actors, so I went to Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan, who were just one film old at that time. But they had other plans, and that didn’t happen, so I had to go for the slightly older generation of actors for Dil Chahta Hai. After dar dar ki thokrein khake, I showed the script to Aamir.
He told me that since he had done a couple of serious roles, .