Uday Chopra became too old for 'Kidnap'

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Director Sanjay Gadhvi gave Uday Chopra two of the best films of his career - "Dhoom" and "Dhoom 2". But he gave the actor a miss in the recently released "Kidnap" because he feels Uday grew "too old" for the role.

Gadhvi wanted to make "Kidnap" soon after "Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai" with Uday in one of the main leads.

"The script for 'Kidnap' was being written in 2002, and the film was to be made right after 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai'. That time, Uday was supposed to do the film. Then 'Kidnap' kept getting delayed. Then 'Dhoom' happened and became a hit. After that we planned 'Dhoom 2'. So 'Kidnap' got further postponed," said Gadhvi.

For "Kidnap" Gadhvi wanted a young and fresh face and zeroed in on Imran Khan instead of Uday. However, he retained his first choice Sanjay Dutt for the other main lead in the movie.

"Sanjay suited his role perfectly, but Uday became too old for the role. Also, I feel that Ali's (funny) image from 'Dhoom' is still very strong in the audience's mind," said Gadhvi.

"Imran is much younger than Uday. When I first met him, I felt he is an irregular guy. He's not the conventional person."

Gadhvi says girls find Imran drop dead gorgeous, but he doesn't think so.

"Lots of girls and people would often look at Imran and say 'he is drop dead good looking', 'he's so cute', 'oh my god!' But I never felt that way. Drop dead good looking is Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar."

"Kidnap", produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd, released last week. The film was not received very well at the box office.

The crime thriller is about a young man, played by Imran who masterminds a series of events and circumstances that force a billionaire, Sanjay Dutt, to commit crimes to save his kidnapped daughter. Minissha Lamba plays Sanjay's daughter in the movie.

Critics have written off the movie, but Imran's performance has been lauded. The director too praises the actor.

"Imran was perfect for the casting because his body is different, his way of walking is different, his talking style is different and the best part is his eyes, they are very expressive. I liked two things in his eyes - they can hide pain and can even show pain if required. So that expressive thing about his eyes impressed me," Gadhvi said.

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Kidnap