How Richa Chadda landed her role in Gangs of Wasseypur

She’s made us laugh, hurl abuses with ease and even tugged at our heartstrings with her brilliant performance in Masaan.

An outsider, with no Godfather or filmy connections, Richa Chadda has slowly carved a place for herself in the rungs of Bollywood, letting her acting do the talking- and a recent mention in the Forbes 30 under 30 Young Achievers’ List proves that even more. She has arrived and is here to stay.

Granted, she wowed critics and audience alike in Masaan, but she stole her hearts long before in Gangs of Wasseypur playing the firebrand Nagma Khatoon.

And, while speaking at The Coalition in Delhi this weekend, the actress let us in on a little secret- how she landed her role in the iconic Gangs of Wasseypur.

As it turns out, the first movie audition Delhi girl Richa Chadda had ever given was for none other than Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D.

Remembering it himself, Anurag Kashyap said, “Her audition was great but I couldn’t see her in that role. I remember her walking in wearing pencil heels as if she’d never wore them in her life,”

Chadda sheepishly nodded and added that even though she didn’t get the part (which later went to Kalki Koechlin), Kashyap assured her that he would keep her in mind for his next movies.

And, he stuck to his word when he ended up casting her as Nagma Khatoon in Gangs of Wasseypur.

But, wait- there’s a twist there too.

As it turns out, Chadda was initially offered a small role in her film before being offering the role of Nagma Khatoon.

Kashyap was apprehensive about her playing an older character which was partly the reason he didn’t offer her the role- but when the actor who was supposed to play Khatoon’s role dropped out, he knew it was time.

Offering her take, Chadda explained, “But, I really had no problem playing an older character. Every character in the movie was aging, so why should my character stay young?”

Image credit: Indiatimes