“Nushrratt Bharuccha Missed Out on Slumdog Millionaire for the Most Unexpected Reason…”
Actor Nushrrat Bharuccha recently revealed that she could have made her film debut with Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire in 2008. In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Nushrrat shared that she had auditioned for the role of Latika, which eventually went to Freida Pinto. However, she was told by the casting team that she was “too pretty” to play a slum girl.
“That’s so interesting. Look at the world we’re in. Just look at this field of films,” Nushrrat remarked. She admitted she didn’t quite understand the reasoning at first.
“When I was told this on the phone, I wasn’t understanding what it meant. But I said, ‘Okay,’ because they’re people working at a different level, and their thoughts are very different. Maine kaha, Theek hai, hoga bhai kuchh, kuchh toh socha hoga aapne. No problem, sure. But yeah, it was a little difficult to hear, Ki ye kya hota hai, ye kya hai,” she added.
The actor later acknowledged the casting logic after watching the film. “There was no way I’d have been able to play that. Jo do chhoti bachchiyan bhi thi, aap logic hi nahi bitha sakte ki wo grow kar ke ye banengi,” she said, referring to the character’s evolution through the story.
Slumdog Millionaire, based on Vikas Swarup’s novel Q & A, tells the story of Jamal (played by Dev Patel), a slum boy who stuns everyone by answering all questions correctly on the Indian quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati. The film, a British production set in India, became a global success and swept the 2009 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film also featured Anil Kapoor as the game show host and Irrfan Khan as a police inspector. Interestingly, Shah Rukh Khan was originally offered Kapoor’s role, while actor Amit Sial was in talks for Irrfan’s part.
Nushrratt made her debut in 2010 with Dibakar Banerjee’s anthology Love Sex Aur Dhokha. She gained fame with Luv Ranjan’s Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011) and the 2018 hit Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Her recent work includes the horror sequel Chhorii 2, streaming on Prime Video India.