Wrote Riteish’s dwarf character in Marjaavaan much before Shah Rukh began Zero: Milap Zaveri

Shah Rukh Khan is all set to play a dwarf in Aanand L Rai’s Zero, set to be released on 21 December. But even before Zero hits the theatres, news of Riteish Deshmukh playing a dwarf in Milap Zaveri’s Marjaavaan is out. The filmmaker, in an exclusive interview with Cinestaan.com, informed that he had written Deshmukh's character much before Khan started working on Zero. 

“I had decided this from the start only when I started writing the script. I had written the character two or two-and-a-half years ago when Shah Rukh sir had not even started Zero. But I didn’t make a film on that script. I made Satyameva Jayate (2018) before and now we have decided to make this one,” he clarified. 

Zaveri stated that he had reasons to make the character a dwarf. “It was the requirement of the script. We wanted to create a new kind of a villain. Also, I had written Ek Villain (2014) for Riteish. So, if I had to convince him to play a negative character again, I knew it had to be something out-of-the-box. Something nobody had actually done [as a villain],” said the screenwriter-director. 

He also said that there is a huge difference between the characters of Deshmukh and Khan. “He [Deshmukh's dwarf] is the epitome of evil. He is playing a very wicked character with a very dark sense of humour and a lot of dialogue baazi. Even though he is small in height, his character is larger-than-life,” said Zaveri, adding that Khan’s character in Zero, on the other hand, is very sweet and of a happy-go-lucky kind. 

Zaveri had written Shootout At Wadala (2013) for John Abraham and Manoj Bajpayee. He then got to direct them in Satyameva Jayate. “Now I am directing Riteish and Siddharth for whom I had written Ek Villain. So, it’s a happy co-incidence that has happened with me twice,” he said.