Harshvardhan Rane on ‘Paltan’: “I was cast 3 hours before film’s shoot”

Harshvardhan Rane, who is busy promoting his latest film ‘Paltan’, recently shared how the role came to him after Abhishek Bachchan stepped away.

“I was casted 3 hours before the film began shooting. Everybody was catching their flight and I was getting casted then. I was trekking like usual and so there wasn’t network on my phone. When I felt hungry and searched for a dhaba near the highway, my phone network also came back. I had received a lot of messages and luckily I read them. One of the messages read, “Reach JP (Dutta) sir’s office,” so I left and reached there soon after. There Nidhi (Dutta) told me that her daddy’s happy with me and just one bomb was left to be exploded. I told her I love bombs and asked her which, to which she said, “You have to reach the airport in 3 hours” and I told her to meet in 2 and half hours. That’s because I don’t have to inform anyone about my whereabouts. So I then jumped into the project.”, Rane told Deccan Chronicle, “Speaking about Abhishek sir, to be honest I look forward to the day when he watches the film and if he passes by me at an event, winking at me with a thumbs up, I’ll be very happy to know that he also liked it.”

When asked whether he is worried about being compared to Bachchan, Rane said, “I will find myself lucky if that happens. He’s Mr. Bachchan’s son. I loved Abhishek sir in ‘Yuva’ (2004) and ‘Guru’ (2007). I believe that he is one of the nicest human beings. I met him at a party. He greeted me with hello and then suddenly his reaction was, “Arre, hello oye! Come here” and gave me a hug saying, “Harsh, it doesn’t get better than JP Dutta.” He emphasized so much on that it felt as if he told me something major! He just advised me to work very hard. I don’t think I’m capable enough to be compared but definitely I’ve given my 500% to this role and hope he’s also proud of it.”

‘Paltan’ is a war drama, which tells the story of the Indian forces during the Nathu La military clashes of 1967. The film releases on 7^th September.