Rajeev was the first choice in Kkusum!

Is Amar Upadhyay picking at dregs?

Amar Upadhyay, the hearthrob who once stole millions of hearts

with his portrayal of Mihir in Kyunki, will be back on two Balaji serials shortly, months after confirming his readiness to enter the Ekta Kapoor camp once again. The cute looking actor will play Ronit Roy's brother in Kasautii Zindagi Kay and a doc in Kkusum. That Rohit Roy was the original choice to play reel sibling to his real bro is now known, but not many know that the role of doc in Kkusum is believed to be originally offered to Rajeev 'Sujal' Khandelwal.

On being asked if he knew he was not the original choice to play both characters, Amar shot back, "I wasn't the original choice to play Mihir either. The role originally went to a model by the name of Jimmy Gandhi. He shot on the mahurat on 7 April 2002. He continued to shoot on 8 and 9 April 2002. I shot on 10 April and was in."

We asked Amar about Rajeev being offered the role of the doctor before him in Kkusum and to our surprise, we realised that Amar knows Rajeev Khandelwal only as Sujal and had no idea who was offered the role in the beginning.

This is not all. Rohit rejected the role in Kasautii... because of monetary reasons.
"The money didn't work out. Where there is creativity, there is firework", says Rohit. Meanwhile, Rajeev maintains a stern, "I don't want to comment" on the issue.

Co-incidentally, Rajeev wasn't the first choice to play the role of Varun, in Ketan Mehta's Time Bomb. This role was initially offered to Rohit.

"I didn't take it up because I am doing Sarrkkar," Rohit spells. Does this fact now defy Ketan Mehta's instinct 'I wanted an action hero with a heart' for choosing Rajeev to play the undercover intelligence officer? Also if Rohit wouldn't have refused to play Varun, what would Rajeev have left with?

So didn't Amar the Mr. Charming didn't mind taking up leftovers? "Not at all! As long as I am getting good work, I have no qualms whatsoever. So to say, neither was Shah Rukh Khan the original choice to play the obsessed lover in Yash Chopra's Darr."

Amar is quite enthused about his roles. "I have signed a year's contract to do Kasautii…. But the role in Kkusum as a doctor is a cameo (though he is hopeful that the role does extend). I am very happy with the look they have given me in Kkusum. I wear a polo neck shirt and specs and the backdrop is the landscape of Shimla. It looks very much like Shah Rukh Khan in Mohabbatein," says Amar.

The young actor is probably still not the original choice on the producer's mind, but one only hopes that this hunk gets his way soon.