Salman Khan was well-appreciated when he decided to play the role of a good cop fighting off evil called Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg. The character of Chulbul is one of the most iconic characters of Bollywood and fans tend to associate the character with Salman and believe that there is really no one who could have done it better than him. However, Salman was not always supposed to play the character; rather, it was another actor who had been thought of first, and he too was a part of the film. 

It was actually Sonu Sood who was Abhinav Kashyap's first choice for Chulbul Pandey. Sood, in a recent interview with Shubhankar Mishra, spoke about it and also mentioned that he was supposed to do the popular item song 'Munni Badnaam' opposite Malaika Arora. The actor who played the antagonist in the first installment of the film mentioned that his friend Abhinav Kashyap, the director of the film, had told him about the role early on. 

Sonu said, "Abhinav Kashyap was an assistant with Mani Ratnam earlier. He was a very good friend of mine. He told me, 'I am writing a corrupt cop story with the name Chulbul, we will do it together.' I was also excited and told him that we would do it."

The actor further went on to add, "When it happened, Arbaaz said that Salman wants to do the film. He narrated the film to him in Filmistan and Salman really liked the word 'Chulbul Pandey'. So one day, Abhinav got a message saying 'Yes'. Then he got to know that it was Salman's number and he said yes to the role."

Sonu played the character of Chhedi Singh in the film, and he too received immense love and appreciation from fans and critics alike for his acting prowess. Several Bollywood enthusiasts also believe that it was with this film that Sonu proved that he was an extremely versatile actor. 

The actor revealed that when his friend Abhinav Kashyap offered him the role of Chhedi Singh, he declined the offer. Sonu did not want to play the part since he was unable to connect with the character, and even Arbaaz Khan had tried to convince him to take the role up, but he kept refusing. Sonu mentioned that the team kept looking for actors who could do justice to the character, but they just felt that it was only him who could play the role well. 

"They asked me, 'What is the problem with the role, why aren't you doing it?' I asked Abhinav to twist the role a bit. I said, 'Let's write it more for the next 2-3 days and if I understand it, I'll do it. And, I need a song in the film.' I asked them to include an item number. When Farah (Khan) was making the song, I told her to include certain steps and how it should be a hit..." said Sonu. 

However, Sonu, of course, could not be a part of the song and revealed that he was disappointed initially but now believes that whatever happened, happened for the best.