Jr NTR says Karan Johar called him to cast 'bright actor' Janhvi Kapoor in Devara

In an interview recently, actor Jr NTR revealed that it was Karan Johar who called him up while he was writing the script for Devara, and pitched Janhvi Kapoor's name as the female lead in the film.

In Short

• Jr NTR discussed casting Janhvi Kapoor for Devara
• He said Karan Johar recommended her for the role
• The actor shared that she was nervous about her Telugu debut

Telugu superstar Jr NTR talked about the casting process for Devara and how he got Janhvi Kapoor onboard as the female lead. In an interview recently, the RRR actor revealed that it was filmmaker Karan Johar who recommended Janhvi's name to him while he was still busy writing the script.

The popular actor, who is known for his mass fan following and solid screen presence, told Indian Express that Janhvi was manifesting her role in Devara. He added that KJo called her a "bright actor" during their conversation on a call, which led to her final casting in the film.

Jr NTR said, "Honestly, while writing the script, we hadn’t zeroed in on anybody to play the female lead. Karan Johar called me and said Jahnvi is a bright actor, and we should have her in the movie. Even then, the intention wasn’t there to cast her, but she manifested this so much that by the end of the writing process, we couldn’t not cast her in Devara."

The 41-year-old actor shared that Janhvi was initially quite nervous about making her Telugu debut and taking her mother, Sridevi's legacy forward. The actor said she tried hard and succeeded. "She had a lot of fear and tension within her. How would she speak Telugu? How would she deliver her performance in Telugu? How would she dance, and most importantly, would she be able to live up to the legacy of Sridevi garu. Let’s be honest, Sridevi garu will never leave us. And that halo will never be lifted off Jahnvi too. But she just shocked us with her performance," he explained.

Janhvi was launched by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions in the 2018 film Dhadak. Out of 11 films that she has done in her career so far, five are backed by Dharma.

Devara: Part I, also featuring Saif Ali Khan, Prakash Raj, Shruti Marathe, Srikanth and Abhimanyu Singh, among others, is slated to hit the screens on September 27.