At several points in his career, Shahid Kapoor has tried his hands at really off beat characters and totally nailed them. His portrayal of Tommy Singh in the film 'Udta Punjab' is his career highlight. Although he played the part to perfection, Shahid wasn't the first choice for the character. Screenwriter Sudeep Sharma had Hollywood star Riz Ahmed in his mind for the role of Tommy Singh.

He said, "We also dabbled with the idea of Riz Ahmed at one point of time. We never thought of a Bollywood actor for that role (Tommy Singh). We thought, why don’t we go for a British-South Asian character? Because we really wanted that whole London thing in it. And Riz is a great actor.”

Sudeep further added, “And I remember walking out of Nightcrawler – he had a small-ish part in that film. He wasn’t that big a star, so we weren’t being that unrealistic and foolish about it. I remember calling Abhishek and saying, ‘Yaar, aap please picture dekho, he’s outstanding and he can really fit Tommy’s part.’ Wishes can be horses when you’re casting.”

Apart from Shahid, 'Udta Punjab' also starred Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh in pivotal roles.