Actor Mrunal Thakur says she entered the Hindi film industry with a dream to work with filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra but never imagined the opportunity would come so early on in her career with "Toofaan". In the upcoming sports drama headlined by actor Farhan Akhtar, Thakur plays Ananya, a doctor who is instrumental in transforming its protagonist Aziz Ali from a henchman to a professional boxer. Even before Thakur officially met the director of acclaimed films like "Rang De Basanti" and "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", the actor recalled how she was "extremely nervous" when Mehra showed up during the dubbing of Nikkhil Advani's 2019 drama "Batla House". Later, when the duo discussed "Toofaan", Thakur said she was surprised by the faith Mehra showed in her.

"Rakeysh sir didn't know I'm a Maharashtrian and the character we were discussing about was also one. At that point I knew I still didn't have the film- I had to work hard for it. It was necessary for me to test for the character, for him to believe I could play it and for me to get closer and understand what this girl is about. "It was my dream to work with him. I thought it would take me at least 15 films to even get that opportunity but I'm blessed that I got it at such an initial stage of my career," Thakur told PTI.