Ranveer, Arjun wanted to interchange roles for 'Gunday'

Actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, who play mafia men in the upcoming release 'Gunday', were keen to step into each other's characters when they were offered the film.

'Gunday' is a story about two friends — Bala and Bikram — played by Arjun and Ranveer, respectively.

When director Ali Abbas Zafar gave the duo a joint narration for the film without divulging the characters they would be essaying, each had expressed a preference for the role which the other was to play.

While Arjun connected to the character of Bikram, Ranveer was thrilled about the story from Bala's point of view.

Bala's character is flamboyant, boisterous and outspoken while Bikram is slightly held-back, like an angry young man.

However, Ali was sure he saw Bikram in Ranveer and Arjun as Bala. He convinced the duo to give it a shot and the two followed the director's vision.

"It was obvious that both Ranveer and Arjun would want to do roles that were closest to their own personalities. We had to convince them to do the opposite roles," Ali said.

The film is based in Kolkata during the city's most unsettled period in the 70s and deals with the inseparable lives of Bikram and Bala as they go from being small-time coal thieves to the most powerful black marketing mafia men.

Produced by Aditya Chopra, 'Gunday' is slated to release worldwide on February 14.