WHAT? Subhash Ghai Reveals Madhuri Dixit And Salman Khan Wanted To Be A Part Of Pardes, He PURPOSELY Didn’t Sign Them
Subhash Ghai opened up about casting new actors for his movie Pardes and facing pressure from his distributors
Bollywood’s showman Subhash Ghai has given Bollywood iconic movies like Ram Lakhan, Khal Nayak, Taal, Hero and Pardes among many more. During a recent interaction with an entertainment website, he opened up about facing pressure from the distributors to cast known faces instead of newbie Mahima Chaudhry as the lead in Pardes.
In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, the 77-year-old filmmaker revealed that Madhuri Dixit, who has already signed a 3-movie deal with him, was interested in doing the movie. Even Salman Khan had approached the director, as he was keen on taking on the role. Originally, the movie was named Ganga. People from his office and the distributors were trying to convince him to cast Madhuri, Salman, and Shah Rukh Khan as the leads of the film, but he was adamant on casting new faces. His perception was that since the Dhak Dhak girl was already a star, showing her as a simple, naive small town girl would make people think she was being crafty. ALSO READ: AR Rahman Speaks About The Advice He Received From Subhash Ghai; Legendary Music Composer Says, 'If You Don’t Learn The Language, You Cannot Compose'
He shared, "Mere office walon ne kahan Pardes mein film bana rahein hai, do hero hain, toh why not sign Shah Rukh, Salman, and Madhuri. Distributor ya commerce ke le ya humare dil mein jo baat hai ki Ganga nayi ladki ko hi karni chahiye, ye karein. Lekin maine socha mujhe toh nayi ladki hi chahiye. (My officemates told me that if we are making a movie with two heros and one heroine we should cast Shah Rukh, Salman, and Madhuri. No matter what the distributors said, I wanted to cast a new girl for Pardes.)"
He further elaborated that he was firm on his decision to cast new leads in his movie. He had to face back and forth from his company and distributors for almost three months. Distributors tried to persue him by saying that if he would cast superstars in his movie they would pay him any amount he wanted. Refusing their offer the filmmaker told them that he would take whatever price they give for newbies. He futher shared, "Unko laga shayad main ghamand aur ego mein baat kar raha hoon. Toh mainne unko bola ki main uska value aur kahani tab bataunga jab picture release hogi. (They thought I was being egoistic and proud. I firmly told them that I will tell them the movie’s value and story after it is released.)" ALSO READ: Mahima Chaudhry Is Battling BREAST CANCER: Pardes Actress Breaks Down In Tears As She Reveals She Lost Her Hair To The Illness-See VIDEO
Released in1997, the movie starred Shah Rukh Khan, Mahima Chaudhary, and Apurva Agnihotri in lead roles. The movie was declared a commercial success.
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