DYK AR Rahman recommended Urmila Matondkar for THIS Tamil film?

Indian was a Tamil language vigilante action film directed by Shankar, which released in the year 1996. The film starred actor Kamal Hassan and Manisha Koirala in the lead roles while Urmila Matondkar played a supporting role in the film. Indian marked Urmila Matondkar’s debut in the Tamil film industry. But did you know that Urmila Matondkar was recommended by a Music director for the film?

DYK AR Rahman recommended Urmila?

AR Rahman composed the music for this film and he recommended Urmila Matondkar after watching her work in Rangeela. The music director was very impressed by her performance in the film which released in 1995. AR Rahman worked as a music director for Rangeela, in which Urmila played the lead role. The film also starred Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff, opposite Urmila and was directed by Ram Gopal Verma. 

AR Rahman approached the director of Indian, Shankar and after they watched her performance, they cast her in a supportive role in Indian. The film was critically acclaimed and became a commercially successful film. It was also known as the highest-grossing Tamil film back then. The film Indian followed the story of a freedom fighter who learns a rare form of martial arts that enables him to kill anyone with his bare hands. He further uses the skill to kill corrupt people and ends the crime on his own.

Urmila Matondkar and AR Rahman also collaborated for the Hindi film Daud, in 1997. Directed by Ram Gopal Verma, the comedy road adventure stars Sanjay Dutt, opposite Urmila Matondkar. Daud was based on Ram Gopal Varma's 1991 cult classic, Kshana Kshanam, a Telugu language comedy film that starred Venkatesh, Sridevi, and Paresh Rawal in lead and supporting roles.

The film garnered mixed reviews from the audience as well as the critics. The film follows the story of Nandu, a small-time thief who is assigned to smuggle an unknown packet for a petty amount. On his journey, he soon finds that the police are after him and he has to trick them and deliver the packet on time.

Image: Still from movie Indian