Rao Bahadur is the next outing from Satya Dev, and the movie has generated good buzz. In an interview with Galatta Plus, Satya Dev revealed how he got the chance to act in Akshay Kumar’s Ram Setu, his only project in Bollywood.
“Shruti Mahajan (casting director) called me and said there’s a role for me in Akshay sir’s film. I didn’t feel like doing it and said no straight away. She didn’t reveal what my character was. Two days later, she called me and asked why I wouldn’t accept the offer. One day, she called me and said she would tell me the story, but wanted me to act as if I knew nothing when the director narrated it,” said Satya Dev.
He added, “She gave me a hint about my character, and I was shocked that they were offering such a significant part for me. Initially, it went to other top stars in the South, but they didn’t give the nod. Abhishek (director) wanted only me, and I was surprised that a Bollywood director was aware of my body of work. At that point, even Godfather hadn’t happened. Abhishek watched all my films. There was no reason for me to say no after that as I loved the character.”
“I was very happy that someone from the Hindi film industry was hellbent on casting me. People loved my character, and my decision turned out to be the right one. The movie didn’t perform the way the team expected it to. What I thought my role would bring me, it gave me 5X. Later, I got some offers in Hindi, but they were not as impactful as my role in Ram Setu,” said Satya Dev.