Veteran actor Rakesh Bedi, who plays the cunning politician Jameel Jamali in the Dhurandhar franchise, has responded to a controversy after Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol reportedly claimed that the character resembles him. As Bedi prepares for the release of the sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the actor clarified that the role was not modelled on any specific individual. He also spoke about Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups being postponed from its earlier release date.

Veteran actor Rakesh Bedi, who plays the cunning politician Jameel Jamali in the Dhurandhar franchise, has responded to a controversy after Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol reportedly claimed that the character resembles him. As Bedi prepares for the release of the sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the actor clarified that the role was not modelled on any specific individual. He also spoke about Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups being postponed from its earlier release date.

‘I didn’t portray him at all’

Responding to the resemblance claim, Bedi dismissed the comparison and emphasised that the character was never intended to represent any real-life personality.“I didn’t portray him at all. I don’t understand why he is identifying himself with the character. I simply adopted a particular look for the role. Now if someone feels that my appearance resembles him, what can I really do about it? It’s not my fault,” Bedi told India Today.

He further added, “Perhaps because of the wig and styling he might feel there is a slight resemblance. That’s his interpretation. But there isn’t much we can do about that.”

‘The character is a blend of several politicians’

The actor explained that the role of Jameel Jamali was created by blending traits from multiple Pakistani politicians rather than drawing inspiration from one individual.“As far as the writers, directors and makers are concerned, we never once thought about portraying Nabil Gabol specifically. In fact, I created the character by blending traits from several Pakistani politicians — their speeches, their body language and aspects that suited the role,” he said.Bedi added, “I adapted those elements and then built the character from there. So, if Nabil Gabol alone feels the character represents him or chooses to see it that way, then that’s really his own issue. I can’t help it.”

On Toxic shifting its release

Bedi also reacted to the postponement of Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, which was earlier scheduled to clash with Dhurandhar: The Revenge at the box office on March 19. The makers later shifted the release to June 4 citing tensions in the Middle East.Commenting on the development, Bedi said, “Tension toh humare liye bhi hai Middle East main, par hum toh aa rahe hai.” (The tension exists for us too in the Middle East, but we will still release our film.) Along with Bedi, the cast of Dhurandhar: The Revenge includes Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun, Sanjay Dutt and R Madhavan. The film is written and directed by Aditya Dhar.