She is already an established name in the television industry, but when superstar Aamir Khan called Sakshi Tanwar to be a part of his upcoming movie Dangal, the actress couldn't believe it was happening. Initially, casting director Mukesh Chhabra's agency got in touch with Sakshi, best known for her portrayal of Parvati Agarwal in the soap opera Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii.

The role she was approached for - and which she eventually bagged - was to play Aamir's wife in the biographical drama. It was, however, when Sakshi got a call from the 51-year-old actor that she experienced a whirlpool of emotions. `When I got a call from Aamir sir, I went blank. I was like 'Oh, okay, well.' I didn't know what to do after that. Moments later after the call, I was excited, happy and probably also overwhelmed. There was a mix of emotions in me,` Sakshi told PTI.


Dangal is based on the life of ace wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and the journey of his daughters Geeta and Babita Phogat. Once on board, the 43-year-old 'Bade Achche Lagte Hain' star quickly cancelled her trip to Bhutan to accommodate dates for the film and began prepping for the role.

Though the PK star had managed to make Sakshi star-struck in the phone conversation, when the duo started shooting the film, there was no intimidation. `The first scene that I shot with him was when his character realises that a gold medal is a gold medal, whether a girl brings it or a boy. But it wasn't intimidating at all. I was very comfortable with him,` she said.

`We all had met earlier for reading sessions. So we knew how things will go. With actors generally, you know how things will pan out on the set and with Aamir, it was an extremely comfortable experience,` the actress added. It wasn't that the feeling of shooting a film with Aamir had sunk in from day one for Sakshi. The actress says there were two defining moments when it hit her that she has acted alongside the 51-year-old actor.

`One was when the trailer got released and I saw myself in it. The other was when we had a screening of the rough cut and I saw my name in the credits. These were the moments where I felt 'yes I am in this'. Before that everybody used to tell me 'Oh my God you're in Dangal' and while I knew that very well, it wasn't sinking in,` said Sakshi. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Dangal is slated to release on December 23.