Ranveer Singh to play Dara Shikoh, Vicky Kaushal is Aurangzeb in Takht

After weeks of speculation, Ranveer Singh and Vicky Kaushal have revealed that they’ll be playing Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb, respectively, in director Karan Johar’s upcoming historical epic, Takht. The actors made the revelation in a recent appearance on journalist Rajeev Masand’s annual actors’ roundtable.

Ranveer, Vicky and the rest of the guests - Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana and Pankaj Tripathi - were asked about playing negative characters on screen, and how it affects them as people. Ranveer, who delivered the performance of his career with Alaudin Khilji in Padmaavat, spoke about how playing the despotic ruler made him feel venomous towards people in his vicinity. “It scared me,” he said, because “I’m not that kind of person.”

Then Ranveer slapped Vicky on the arm and asked, “Are you listening?” Masand interjected with some context and said that Vicky will be playing the famously controversial Mughal ruler Aurangzeb in Takht, opposite Ranveer, who will be playing Aurangzeb’s brother, Dara Shikoh.

Takht features an ensemble cast, including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anil Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Bhumi Pednekar. It has been rumoured that Kareena will be playing Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb’s sister, Jahanara. Anil Kapoor will be playing their father, Shah Jahan. Alia will be playing Dara Shikoh’s wife and Bhumi will be playing Aurangzeb’s wife. Janhvi, meanwhile, will play a slave girl, according to Times of India.

Karan in a recent interview to Film Companion said that Takht is “like the K3G of the Mughal era. But it’s more extreme, there is more betrayal. It has the tropes of court politics. It’s so rich in texture.” Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is a Bollywood family drama directed by Karan.

Ranveer will begin preparations for another fact-based film, Kabir Khan’s ‘83, in which he will play former Indian world cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev. Before that, he will star in Rohit Shetty’s Simmba. Vicky is looking forward to the release of his action drama, Uri, based on the surgical strikes of 2016.

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