Mehta had seen Siddiqui's films and was convinced that the actor was perfect to portray the role.
"After I wrote the script, Nawazuddin came to my mind. He is a brilliant actor and he has the correct body type that of Manjhi's. The moment I met him I realised he was the right guy to do the role.
"I had seen some of his earlier films and I thought 'Here is a special actor'. Even in those small bit roles, he stood out. In 'Kahaani' he had a substantial role and even there he worked hard and was incredible. The intensity in his eyes was unmissable," Mehta told PTI.
He had carved a road through the mountain using only hammer and chisel in memory of his wife who passed away without proper medical treatment as travel to the nearest hospital took a lot of time due to the mountain.
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The "Mangal Pandey" director was in disbelief when he first heard the story of Manjhi but wanted to share it after he delved further into it.
"First time I heard about Manjhi was in 2007 when he died and there was a lot of media coverage about the man who broke a mountain for love. My first reaction was disbelief, I asked myself, 'How is this possible?'