Akshay Kumar says Lara Dutta 'laughed' when he offered her to play Indira Gandhi

Akshay revealed that Lara was the first who came to his mind when he thought of Indira Gandhi's role

Mumbai (Online): Indian actor Akshay Kumar is spilling the beans on how Lara Dutta bagged the role of Indira Gandhi for Bell Bottom. Speaking to a leading daily, Akshay revealed that Lara was the first who came to his mind when he thought of the role. "I did suggest Lara’s name for the role. For some reason, she was the first person who came to my mind. I remember calling her up and telling her about this film that I was doing and that we were casting for the role of Indira Gandhi in it. I wanted her to consider it. And she started laughing and refused to believe I was seriously asking her to consider it. For the longest time, she thought I was playing a prank as she saw no similarity between the two whatsoever. But then I explained to her what the role entailed and why I felt she could do justice to it." Speaking to another media outlet, Lara earlier revealed her interactions with Akshay Kumar after taking up the role. "Even when Akshay saw me for the first time as the character, I remember he sat next to me and kept staring at me. I was like ‘What is wrong with you? Why are you staring at me?’ He replied, ‘This is so strange. So uncanny’. So, such were the reactions on the sets of BellBottom,” she said.