MUMBAI: Everyone is eager to watch Karan Johar make his first major appearance on screen as the baddie in ‘Bombay Velvet’. The producer-director however wasn’t the first choice for the role. 

Naseruddin Shah was set to reprise the character of Dosoo Karaka – the powerful and feisty Parsi journalist, who chronicled Mumbai from the 1940-70s.

The character, having strong homosexual undertones, will now be essayed by Karan Johar. The multi-faceted producer-director is gearing up for his first big break as an actor and is preparing for ‘Bombay Velvet’, which will be shot in Sri Lanka.

Naseeruddin Shah apparently had taken too long to give his nod to play the character. Anurag Kashyap was having a discussion with Karan Johar and bouncing off ideas, it was then it struck him that Karan will be able to perfectly play the character.

Anurag Kashyap says, “It’s true we cannot get Naseer, and he can’t be replaced. It was just discussing with Karan (Johar) that the idea came, and once he said yes we worked on the character to make it younger.

‘Bombay Velvet’ directed by Anurag Kashyap will have Ranbir Kapoor in the lead alongside Anushka Sharma. The film, a trilogy about how Mumbai became a metropolis will be extensively shot in Sri Lanka. Fox Star Studios and Anurag Kashyap are jointly producing the film.