Actor Shreyas Talpade has had a career filled with memorable performances across theatre, television, Marathi cinema and Bollywood. While he has no regrets about the choices he has made, in a recent chat Shreyas revealed how he was offered Arshad Warsi’s role in Jolly LLB which he ‘unknowingly’ denied.

Recalling the event, the 49-year-old, says, “I remember meeting director Subhash [Kapoor] Ji and he narrated me a story. At that time, I was tied up with other commitments, so things didn’t move ahead. A few years later when Jolly LLB (2013) released, I watched it and immediately called him to congratulate him.” He further adds, “I told him, ‘Sir, what a film, lovely film, I simply loved it, great work.’ And he [Subhash sir] just laughed and said, ‘don’t you remember? I had come to you with this film.’ I said, no sir, I remember meeting you, but this was not the film. He said, ‘Of course, it was Jolly. I changed a few things, but essentially this was the story I brought to you.’”

The actor who was last seen in Emergency, Bagchi 4 and Housefull 5 (all of which released this year), shares how shocked he was. “I was shocked when he told me the who thing. I told him, ‘Please tell me this was not the same film.’ It unfortunately was, I never knew I was missing out on such an opportunity,” shares Shreyas, adding, that the revelation left him momentarily stunned, but he holds no bitterness. “Arshad [Warsi] did a fantastic job with it, he played the role of Jagdish Tyagi brilliantly. Sometimes that’s how things are meant to be. I was tied up with other projects, and I missed the bus on a project which has managed to win so many hearts but who could have predicted it back then,” says Shreyas, adding, “It’s part and parcel of the journey. There is always a risk when you say no for a project as one can’t predict the box office or audience response.”