Rajneesh Duggal was offered these two roles in 'Murder', the actor rejected them, told the reason after 20 years

In the year 2004, Anurag Basu's directorial film 'Murder' was released. It had Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat in lead roles. It received mixed response from the people but it proved to be a superhit at the box office. However, very few people know that the first choice for the lead role was not Emraan Hashmi but Rajneesh Duggal. Recently, while talking to Siddharth Kannan, Rajneesh told the reason why he rejected the role that could have changed his life. 1920 actor Rajneesh Duggal told that he was offered that role just 3 days after winning Mr. India in March 2003. The judges of that competition were Mukesh Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt. They were the ones who contacted the actor. 'Mahesh Bhatt was the guest speaker. He first saw everyone and then asked about us. Everyone was introducing themselves. I think my confidence touched his heart.

He was making a film to launch Emraan Hashmi

The next day Mukesh Bhatt inquired about the Delhi boy and producer Anshuman Swami pointed him towards Rajnish. Three days later, Rajnish was called to Mukesh Bhatt's office along with Swami and music composer Abu Malik. There, Mukesh Bhatt revealed that he was making a film to relaunch his nephew Emraan Hashmi, who debuted with 2003's 'Footpath'. 'I am dating a new girl from Delhi NCR called Reema Gill (Mallika Sherawat's real name) and she played the album Murder for me, which was amazing.'

This is why Rajneesh Duggal rejected the film

Mukesh Bhatt then asked Rajneesh to choose between two roles. Husband or lover, with Imran playing the other role. After listening to the story, which also included intimate scenes, Rajneesh told him that he had a girlfriend (now his wife Pallavi) and he could not kiss on screen. Rajneesh's decision to walk away from 'Murder' was out of respect for their relationship.