When Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal first rose to prominence, many pointed out his political journey was the ideal recipe for a Bollywood potboiler. In fact, parallels were drawn between him and Anil Kapoor's character in 'Nayak' (2001).

It has emerged that post his 49-day stint as Delhi chief minister last year, he had been approached to play the lead in KC Bokadia's film. However, he had to refuse the offer citing time constraints.

A source close to the film, Dirty Politics, reveals: "Bokadia saab had offered Kejriwal the film as it was loosely based on his phenomenal rise from common man to chief minister. After the narration, Kejriwal had liked the script, but excused himself saying he wanted to concentrate on party organisational work. However, he did thank the director for writing his story and approaching him."

Eventually, the role went to Naseeruddin Shah. The film, which is set to release soon, stars Mallika Sherawat as the female lead, besides Jackie Shroff, Om Puri and Anupam Kher in key roles.

The producer-director confirms the news, adding, "Yes, we had offered a role to Mr Kejriwal, but he could not allot dates to us. He congratulated us for the project, though. So, we approached Naseeruddin Shah. The film is inspired by him."