What stopped Dharmendra from playing RAW chief in Saif‑Kareena’s Agent Vinod? Sriram Raghavan shared the behind‑the‑scenes story.
Back in 2007, Sriram Raghavan‘s edgy thriller Johnny Gaddaar featured veteran actor Dharmendra in a memorable role. The collaboration left the filmmaker eager to work with the legend again.
At a recent event organised by the Screenwriters Association (SWA), Raghavan revealed that while planning Agent Vinod, he had written a role for the head of RAW- India’s intelligence agency. The idea was to pair Dharmendra with Zeenat Aman.
“After Johnny Gaddar, I told him I want to work with you again, and he said, ‘Yes, of course’. When I was doing Agent Vinod, I remember we had written a role for the head of RAW, and his counterpart was going to be Zeenat Aman; we wanted her to be in Russia. So, it was an older and a younger story,” Sriram recalled.
But when the director pitched the role, Dharmendra politely declined the offer.
Revealing the reason behind the same, Sriram shared, “But it was all in the writing stage. When I met him and told him about this role, he said, ‘RAW, head, yaar, tum log wahi (you guys do that), it’ll be India, Pakistan, I don’t want to do it’. He didn’t want to get involved in that; I said, ‘I respect that.’ Then, we didn’t pursue that track at all.”
Years later, Sriram Raghavan finally got to reunite with his Johnny Gaddaar star in Ikkis (2026). The film marked Dharmendra’s last on-screen appearance as the legendary actor passed away on November 24, 2025.
Starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan in leading roles, Agent Vinod revolves around a RAW agent who embarks on a globe‑trotting mission to uncover the truth behind his colleague’s murder, only to stumble upon a deadly international conspiracy. The film was declared a flop at the box office.
