Filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap, who made his directorial debut in Bollywood with Dabangg, recalled how the Khan family came on board for the film. In an interview with Bollywood Thikana, he claimed that Salman Khan was insecure about Sonu Sood and that Randeep Hooda was the first choice to play the lead in the film, but Sohail Khan rejected him.

Abhinav Kashyap recalls how Arbaaz Khan became producer of Dabangg

Abhinav recalled a 15-minute pitching session with Arbaaz Khan, where he narrated the story to him. The filmmaker revealed that Arbaaz was keen on playing Chulbul Pandey and tried to convince him, but Abhinav felt that he would be more suited to a supporting role. Arbaaz then agreed to do the film only on the condition that he would produce it. Abhinav accepted this. The actor then asked the filmmaker to narrate the story to his brother Sohail Khan.

Abhinav recalled that even Sohail enjoyed the script and wanted to know who he had in mind for the lead role. When Abhinav suggested Randeep Hooda, as he wanted someone who looked rough and tough, the filmmaker revealed how Sohail reacted and said, “No, yaar, Randeep Hooda ka kya market hai, kaun paise lagayega, koi bada hero soch” (He doesn’t have a big enough reach, who would invest in him, think of a big hero). I then said that Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol are also good, and Salman also has a good body if he can carry a tough role, because Salman had a ‘chichora image’, uski image mawali waali thi (he had a rowdy image).”

Abhinav revealed that Sohail and Arbaaz immediately jumped on Salman’s name and said they would produce the film if Salman liked it. He recalled that he was supposed to give the narration to Salman on the set of Veer, and then the Khan brothers signed him for the film by giving him a cheque of ₹10 lakhs. He also revealed that casting Sonakshi was not his decision, but he was eventually happy with her performance.

Abhinav says Salman Khan insecure of Sonu Sood

Abhinav recalled suggesting Sonu Sood’s name as the villain when discussions began and said, “Sonu was my suggestion; we were old friends. I helped him get cast in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva. I thought he looked like a young Amitabh Bachchan… For the villain, I wanted someone who looked stronger than Salman. I knew Sonu had a good physique. But Salman wasn’t very keen. He was very insecure, because Sonu had a good body. Katrina helped convince him. She was around Salman a lot in those days, and she endorsed the idea of Sonu being cast.”

About Dabangg

Produced by Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan under Arbaaz Khan Productions, along with Dhilin Mehta under Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, the film introduced audiences to the iconic character Chulbul Pandey, a fearless yet quirky police officer known for his swag, humour and unique style of justice. The film was a massive commercial success thanks to its dialogues, performances and action sequences.

The success of the first film gave rise to a franchise with two sequels: Dabangg 2 (2012), directed by Arbaaz Khan, and Dabangg 3 (2019), directed by Prabhu Deva.