Imtiaz Ali dropped Diana Penty from Ranbir Kapoor’s Rockstar after 3 weeks of workshop; actor says ‘he felt I wasn’t…’ | Bollywood-OxBig News Network

Diana Penty reveals Imtiaz Ali approached her for Rockstar

Recalling how she landed her first film, Cocktail, Diana reminisced about being approached for the lead role in Rockstar while she was still working as a model. She said, “I was in New York, modelling, and I got a call from my agency. They told me Imtiaz Ali was looking for a new girl for his film Rockstar and that I must meet him. Films were never on my radar, and I had never taken formal training in acting. I never had the confidence that I could be an actor one day. I never believed that I would ever be able to pull it off. So I flew back for the meeting. At the first meeting, I was like, ‘Wow, he is such a nice person.’”

Diana recalled that when she met Imtiaz, he was very kind and made her feel comfortable enough to speak her heart out. When Imtiaz asked for look tests and explained the character to her, Diana told him that she didn’t have any acting background and wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do justice to the role. However, Imtiaz encouraged her to attend workshops, saying he’d take a decision after 2–3 weeks.

Diana Penty reveals why Imtiaz Ali rejected her

She added, “After 2–3 weeks he said, ‘Look, I can see you have come a long way and I’ve seen a lot of improvement, but I still don’t feel you are ready to play the character in Rockstar. Maybe it is too soon for you.’ He was also going to shoot it in a month or so, and felt that I wasn’t ready at the time. I was kind of relieved because I didn’t feel confident. So I went back to New York and continued with my modelling.”

Diana revealed that just a year later, she received a call saying Dinesh Vijan was looking for a new face. She later discovered that the script for Cocktail had been written by Imtiaz Ali, who remembered her and suggested she would be a perfect fit for the character of Meera. She recalled receiving a confirmation call within 24 hours of her audition—and that’s how she landed her debut role in Cocktail.

The lead role in Rockstar eventually went to Nargis Fakhri. Cocktail, a romantic comedy directed by Homi Adajania, stars Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles, along with Dimple Kapadia, Boman Irani, and Randeep Hooda in key parts. The film was a massive box office success, earning ₹121.78 crore worldwide.

Meanwhile, Diana is currently seen in the film Detective Sherdil. Directed by Ravi Chhabriya in his directorial debut, the movie also stars Diljit Dosanjh, Boman Irani, Chunky Panday, and Banita Sandhu in lead roles. It is currently streaming on ZEE5.