Let us look at how rejects of some actors made stars of others!
Pradeep Sarkar was miffed over Vidya Balan having rejected Konkona Sens’ role in Laga Chunari Mein Daag. The smart girl stuck to her role in Heyy Babby and rejected LCHD. The verdict was out: Vidya Balan had a cent percent success rate in Bollywood for 2007 with hits like Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiya . Good for her that she did not do LCMD! Now let us look at some of the career blunders, mistakes that actors and actresses of Bollywood have made. Let us look at the original choices of the hit Bollywood movies which were to star with actors who eventually walked away! Though they may say that bygones and bygones, they cannot refute the fact that these movies would have definitely made them bigger stars if not legends:
Shahrukh Khan: Rejected Lagaan and Munnabhai MBSS. Wonder how bigger he’d have risen if he had been a part of these movies. Unfortunately SRK was busy to allocate time for Lagaan and he was unsure about how the first time Raj Kumar Hirani would direct the film. Shahrukh Khan also rejected the role of flight lieutenant Ajay Rathod because he found that the role did not have sufficient depth and also because of the fact that he did not want to play second fiddle to Aamir Khan in Rang De Basanti. The role eventually went to Madhavan. Imagine how Rang De Basanti would have looked if Aamir, Shahrukh and Hrithik were in the movie! But the most commendable thing is Rang De Basanti still emerged a huge hit and a cult favorite even without star power of Hrithik and SRK.
Aamir Khan: Rejected Darr because he was conscious of the negative image and he was also denied a joint script reading with Sunny Deol. This really turned SRK’s career on the upswing as he won the confidence of the Yash Chopra camp. Movies like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Paagal Hai, Mohabbatein and the ilk are the pleasant aftereffects which SRK relished.
Salman Khan: Rejected Baazigar because he thought it wouldn’t work. In a humorous dig, Salman Khan has also commented had he starred in Baazigar, he’d also have built Baazigar. Rejected Kal Ho Na Ho(which ultimately went to Saif Ali Khan). Rejected Chak De India. He wanted a high amount of money for Chak De India
Kareena Kapoor: Though she is famous, she’d have got have easily been a top bracket star. Look at the movies that she dropped out of: Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Page 3, Kal Ho Na Ho. All these three movies were written with Kareena Kapoor in the mind but she had other priorities. Kareena Kapoor reportedly told Karan Johar in Koffee with Karan that she regretted missing out on Kal Ho Na Ho. Most of her reasons for not doing these movies were monetary.
Hrithik Roshan: He dropped out of Bunti aur Babli because he was busy with Koi Mil Gaya. He missed out on three good movies: Rang De Basanti, Dil Chahta Hai and Swades. Hrithik Roshan was to do Siddarth’s role in Rang De Basanti. But Hrithik wanted to do Aamir’s role. Rakesh Roshan on the other hand stated that Hrithik Roshan could not do the role because he was busy doing Krrish. There was another actor who walked out of the role due to creative differences. Read on to know more. Hrithik Roshan was also offered the role of Saif Ali Khan in Dil Chahta Hain which he did not do. Saif’s career skyrocketed from Dil Chahta Hai. Hrithik Roshan also could not do Swades because of date problems.
Aishwarya Rai: Aishwarya Rai was the original choice for the movie ‘Chalte Chalte’ SRK’s home production. She had even shot for some scenes. However there was always problems on sets due to intervening of Salman Khan while his then girlfriend Aishwarya Rai would work. There was an instance when Salman pursued Ash all the way to the sets and created a ruckus. SRK did not take this too politely and removed Ash from the movie. In walked Rani Mukherjee as Ash was shown the exit.
Vivek Oberoi: He walked out of Hum Tum because he thought he was worth a lot for the role The film eventually went to Saif Ali Khan. It is Viveik’s biggest career regret because Saif Ali Khan got the Filmfare best actor in a comic role and also the National Award for the Best Actor.
Twinkle Khanna: Rejected Kuch Kuch Hota Hai thinking it was a minuscule role. Though the role was small, I am sure it would been impactful than the entire set of sloppy movies the actress did in her career!
Bipasha Basu: She was the original choice for the Dhoom babe, the role which eventually went to Rimmi Sen.
Akshay Kumar: Lost out on a dream debut ‘Phool Aur Kaante’ which went to Ajay Devgan. Akshay Kumar was busy with Deedar.
Arjun Ramphal: Arjun Ramphal was given Siddarth’s role in Rang De Basanti. However he walked out of the movie because he found the creative team undisciplined. He even spoke on Koffe with Karan that he had no idea of the role. So he walked out in frustration which eventually turned to be a goldmine for Siddarth.
From the above, it is visible that two stars who benefited the most out of offers which were rejected were Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan. Both of them took the risk and profited immensely. This data is mostly of films that were released in the 90s and the current decade. Do put in your inputs and comments if you know other star rejects which worked wonder for others.
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