Actor Priyanshu Painyuli who is known for his roles in Mirzapur and Bhavesh Joshi Superhero recently spoke about his journey as an actor so far. Painyuli revealed that he too was in talks to play role of Kukoo in Sacred Games, a role which finally went to Kubbra Sait.
Kukoo’s character was a trans woman who falls in love with Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Ganesh Gaitonde. The role was Kubbra Sait’s breakout and earned her accolades from critics and audiences.
While speaking with a leading daily about all the good roles he had auditioned for but lost out on, he said “One of my favourite ones was MC Sher in Gully Boy, which Siddhant (Chaturvedi) did. This is an interesting one, not many people know about it. I was a finalist with Kubbra for Kukoo’s role in Sacred Games. So I lost weight and this was while Bhavesh Joshi was being edited. (Vikramaditya) Motwane sir came to me and he said ‘We are trying to figure out whether a guy should play Kukoo or a girl. And we are testing people, auditioning people, would you like to understand this?’”
Later Painyuli met Anurag Kashyap and understood the part. “He said ‘I know how you act and I have no problem with that. Tu accha kar hi lega scenes mein but read some of the Kukoo scene and see if you want to attempt it. Because it is a little tricky to play that part’. So I read those scenes and I said give me one month’s time. So it took a lot of prep. These guys also enjoyed the prep. I remember wearing five inch heels, walking around the house, lost weight. I have pictures of my Kukoo trial test. The same get-up that Kubbra did. I got the eyelashes, the wig, the same gown, and I had to learn the dance very very much. Like Parveen Babi was the reference. So I danced at the studio in the whole outfit. Eventually, Netflix and everybody decided that (they should go with a woman for the role). But I think what Kubbra brought in that I was missing somewhere was that she was bringing in that body language which is very important as Kukoo. When I saw her doing it, I thought yea, she was the right one. I wasn’t so graceful when I danced either.”
Priyanshu will next be seen with Taapsee Pannu in Rashmi Rocket and Pippa with Ishaan Khatter.
