Once upon a time, there were three friends lazily lounging in one friend's apartment after watching the Pittsburgh Penguins win a game against the San Jose Sharks on TV. Suddenly, another friend who lives 20 minutes away decides to FaceTime us and ask us this question: If "Harry Potter" was made with Bollywood actors and actresses, what houses would each person be in, and who would be who? This sparked curiosity among the friends and immediately they took action and made an Excel spreadsheet with mainstream actors and actresses and sorted them into their proper houses. After looking at the different roles the actors and actresses have played throughout their acting career, we were able to select the proper roles for them. Here is the list of main characters we chose:
Warning: This is just the opinion of four people without lives, who decided at 1 a.m. on a Wednesday. Difference in opinion is welcome; discussion is encouraged.
1. Harry Potter: Ranbir Kapoor.
Why? After examining the overall characteristics that Ranbir portrays in his roles, we realized that his looks and thoughtful personality fits well with those of Harry Potter. In other words, we figured he would do well as a kid who lost his parents, lived a pretty miserable life with his aunt and uncle, ended up with his second option of a girlfriend, and had enough guts to take on another dude who's been trying to kill him all his life.
2. Ronald Weasley: Ranveer Singh
Personally, I thought Ranveer could be argued for Harry Potter because of a lot of the brave and ballsy characters he's played (Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani, Gunday, etc.) but he definitely has a light side to him in terms of being that funny friend who can also be stupid, at times, (Band Baaja Bharat, Gunday, Dil Dhadakne Do).
3. Hermione Granger: Deepika Padukone
We had an insanely hard time deciding between Deepika and Priyanka Chopra for this role because both the actresses have played great roles where they show intelligence and bravery, but ultimately after reviewing Deepika's roles in movies like Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (super nerdy), Ram Leela (incredibly brave), and Bajirao Mastani (even braver), we figured it suited her more. (No we didn't just choose her because of Ranveer.)
4. Albus Dumbledore: Amitabh Bachchan
Is this one not obvious? I mean, the tall stature, deep voice, and headmaster roles like Narayan Shankar in Mohabbatein, this was definitely our first choice. There's honestly no question about it.
5. Lord Voldemort: Sanjay Dutt
I feel like this is another obvious one. With amazing negative roles in movies like Agneepath, Vaastav, and Khal Nayak, I feel like people think Sanjay Dutt when the word 'antagonist' comes up.
6. Severus Snape: Amrish Puri
This is one that could definitely argued for other actors. However to us, Amrish Puri played so many versatile roles as villains or fathers throughout many Bollywood movies that we thought he could fit Snape's role as someone who is misunderstood throughout the entire series and then realized as a good spirit at the end.
These are the actors that really stood out to me as the main unforgettable characters in the series, but below you'll find a list of other characters we made decisions about!
Professor Minerva McGonagal: Rekha
Sorting Hat: Johnny Lever
Fich: Rajpal Yadav
Dobby: Govinda
Hagrid: Dharmendar
Dolores Umbridge: Nana Patekar
Mad-eye Moody: Naseerudin Shah
Horace Slughorn: Rishi Kapoor
Godric Gryffindor: Raj Kapoor
Salazar Slytherin: Pran
Rowena Ravenclaw: Jaya Badhuri
Helga Hufflepuff: Uday Chopra
Neville Longbottom: Farhan Akhtar
Sirius Black: Ajay Devgn
Fred Weasley: Akshay Kumar
George Weasley: Javed Jaffrey
Draco Malfoy: Sunil Shetty
Crabbe: Arjun Kapoor
Goyle: John Abraham
Lucius Malfoy: Arjun Rampal
Bellatrix Lestrange: Priyanka Chopra
Luna Lovegood: Kangana Ranaut
Cho Chang: Karishma Kapoor
Gilderoy Lockhart: Anupam Kher
Tonks: Katrina Kaif
Professor Lupin: Abhishek Bachchan
Cedric Diggory: Vivek Oberoi
