It has been revealed that another major actor was initially chosen for the lead role in Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan’s superhit film, ‘Devdas,’ before he was cast.
According to Indian media, the famous musician Ismail Darbar disclosed that casting Shah Rukh Khan was not the initial plan for the 2002 classic film Devdas, which was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Ismail Darbar, who composed the music for the film, stated that Salman Khan was the first choice for the role. However, Sanjay Leela Bhansali ultimately decided to choose Shah Rukh Khan instead of Salman Khan for the final casting.
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“When I needed work, Sanjay Leela Bhansali gave me the film ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,’ and when he needed me, I dropped all my work for him because he was my godfather in the industry.
My heart says his relationship with Salman Khan soured because he cast Shah Rukh for Devdas, even though Salman had supported him when the film ‘Khamoshi’ flopped.”
Ismail confirmed that the major change was because of Aishwarya Rai, who played the role of Paro in the film, and the news of her breakup with Salman at the time. “The news of their fights was all over the media. We felt bad; they were very close. They shouldn’t have fought, but all this is in the past. Salman is sensible enough never to talk about it,” he said.
He mentioned that Aishwarya’s biggest sorrow was that the industry had isolated her because of Salman. “She was very upset by this situation. She felt she could no longer trust the industry. It would have been understandable if she was wrong, but the matter was one-sided. She truly felt betrayed at that time.”
According to Indian media, it appears that not only creative decisions but also personal relationships and industry politics played a major role behind Devdas.
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