The toughest job for the makers of R Madhavan starrer "Saala Khadoos" was to cast the lead actress of the film.
They wanted a female boxer who should also have acting skills.
Rajkumar Hirani's film has captured millions of hearts with its trailer released recently and apart from that the lead actress Ritika Singh has grabbed attention.
Teen boxer Ritika was chosen from amongst 100 athletes for the lead role in "Saala Khadoos".
"Hirani chose a national level boxer over an actress to play the lead role. He felt the fights required stamina and intensity, and only a real boxer could make them look real. So, the entire team set out on a hunt for one. They auditioned over 100 boxers and attended over 700 boxing matches all over the country, before they finalised the female lead," a spokesperson said.
The auditions spanned a couple of months and the makers found Ritika perfect for the role. Ritika is a national- level kickboxer who holds a black belt in karate and is also trained in mixed martial arts.
At a recent media interaction, Hirani admitted that he was apprehensive about casting a boxer as the lead heroine, but after watching Ritika's audition tape the team was confident about her.
In the film, Madhavan plays the role of a "banished" boxing coach and Ritika appears as his arrogant student. The trailer of "Saala Khadoos" reveals a lot about the plot of the film. Madhavan is a talented boxing coach who becomes a victim of politics in sports.
He then comes across Ritika; he decides to train her as he thinks she is a born boxer.
The film has been simultaneously made in Hindi and Tamil (Irudhi Suttru).
"Saala Khadoos" is a film by Rajkumar Hirani Films & Tricolour Films in association with UTV Motion Pictures and is directed by Sudha Kongara.
The film is all set to release on 29 January 2016.
