Pushpa Twist: This Star Was Sukumar’s First Pick for Bhanwar Singh Before Fahadh Faasil Came on Board

The creation of Pushpa movies--Pushpa Sukumar produced the Pushpa films Pushpa: The Rise (2021) and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024) as a five-year labor of love. The characters portrayed in the films by Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna along with Fahadh Faasil have been so closely bonded to their actors that it's impossible to imagine someone who is not playing them.

Actor Nara Rohith shared in a recent M9 News interview that he was initially chosen to play Bhanwar Singh Shekawat before Fahadh Faasil Pushpa 2 took on the role of the antagonist.

Rohith verified that he was approached for Fahadh’s role when questioned about it. He explained that during the Covid-19 pandemic he shared photos of himself wearing a moustache. Both Ravi (Shankar) garu and Sukumar garu initiated contact with me. The filmmakers changed their vision for the film and decided they needed Fahadh Faasil to play the part. But initially, they did speak to me.”

While Nara Rohith Pushpa 2 was eager to perform the role he also admitted his uncertainty about achieving Fahadh Faasil’s level of performance. His performance was so impressive that he doubted his ability to replicate it. Had I been part of that particular film set I might have absorbed its energy and performed well. After watching Fahadh's performance I felt good about the decision. That was terrific, actually.”

Allu Arjun's main adversary in the Pushpa series is Bhanwar Singh Shekawat who embodies a police officer with a casteist attitude determined to destroy the red sanders smuggling operation regardless of consequences. During an interview with Film Companion in 2024 Fahadh expressed his lack of enthusiasm for his role saying "Pushpa didn't mean much to me. I told Sukumar Sir that. I don’t have to hide it. I have to be honest.”

Nara Rohith and Fahadh Faasil paused his acting career following the poor financial performance of his 2018 movie Veera Bhoga Vasantha Rayalu.