In his autobiography, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has revealed that James Bond actor Daniel Craig had auditioned for a role in Rang De Basanti. However, he was unable to take up the role because he was offered James Bond at the same time. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s autobiography, The Stranger in the Mirror is co-written with Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. In a particular segment, the filmmaker talks about how producers David Reid and Adam Bowling were behind the casting of Alice Patten and Steven Mackintosh as Sue and James McKinley, respectively. However, Daniel Craig had also auditioned for the role of James McKinley.”I remember vividly that one of the people who auditioned for the part of James McKinley, the young jailor who walks Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev to be hanged, was none other than current James Bond, Daniel Craig,” the filmmaker wrote in his book, according to PTI.
“Daniel Craig was my first choice but he requested if we could allow some time as he was also being considered to be the next James Bond. The rest, as they say, is history,” he added.Daniel Craig made his debut as James Bond in 2006, the same year that Rang De Basanti was released. Rang De Basanti and Casino Royale released in the same year and the latter shot Daniel Craig to international fame. Rang De Basanti was not only a critical hit but was also an enormous commercial success. The political drama film was chosen as India’s official entry to the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Rang De Basanti stars Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman in the lead roles.
