Kattappa, played by Sathyaraj was an iconic character in SS Rajamouli's 'Baahubali' Part 1 and 2. Sathyaraj got widespread recognition with his role and it made him a household name. But did you know Sanjay Dutt was the first choice for Kattappa? Yes, you read it right! Here's why Sanjay couldn't do it.
Sanjay was in jail at that time. SS Rajamouli’s father V. Vijayendra Prasad revealed it in 2020 in an interview. Prasad told Rediff that Prabhas was always their first choice to play Baahubali, and they were considering Dutt to play Kattappa. He said, “Only for Kattappa, we had Sanjay Dutt in mind. But then it was dicey as he was still in jail. The next option was Sathyaraj.”
He added, “I didn’t have a story with me, I just told him (Rajamouli) about a foreigner who comes to India and sees an old person teaching swordsmanship to young students. Impressed, the foreigner claims the old man to be the best swordsman in the region. The old man refutes his claim by telling him about Baahubali. He tells him that nobody was able to injure Baahubali as long as he had a sword. He fought against 200 people and killed them all. By evening, he would be soaked in blood, but not a drop was his. When the foreigner said he wanted to meet Baahubali, the old man said he was dead. The foreigner didn’t understand how that was possible. Then the old man said backstabbing is a more powerful weapon and told the foreigner that it was he who back-stabbed Baahubali. The other scene I narrated was of a mother carrying a child, wading across a river, which eventually became the powerful opening scene of the franchise. He told me to put it all together and weave a story. We took around four-five months to develop the script.”
Work-wise, Sanjay Dutt has 'Welcome To The Jungle' that has Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav, Disha Patani, and Raveena Tandon among others. Reportedly he will also be seen in 'Hera Pheri 3' with Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty.
