Aishwarya Rai is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in the Indian film industry. The former Miss World debuted in the world of glamour with the Tamil film, Iruvar, and Hindi film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya in 1997. In her career spanning over more than two decades, Aishwarya was seen in some of the blockbuster films, like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Dhoom 2, Mohabbatein, Jodhaa Akbar, Guru and many more. Despite being amongst the top-notch actresses of her time, Aishwarya has undergone a challenging period in her career.
Aishwarya Rai was replaced in several Shah Rukh Khan starrer films due to her feud with her former boyfriend, Salman Khan. For those who don’t know, Aishwarya and Salman fell in love on the sets of their film, Hum Dil Chuke Sanam, and by 2002, they decided to part ways. Following their breakup, Aishwarya faced various issues in her career. One of which was getting replaced in the 2003 film, Chalte Chalte.
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While Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya were shooting for the film, an angry Salman caused a ruckus on their sets. They had to halt the shoot, and eventually, Aishwarya was replaced by Rani Mukerji. Years later, in an interview, SRK spoke about his regret of replacing ‘good friend’, Aishwarya and apologised for the sudden turn of events. A clip of the same interview is doing rounds on social media where SRK was seen expressing his sadness, and he said:
“Yes, obviously, I am very saddened at the fact that Aishwarya was a very close friend. I have done some really marvellous films with her, and I genuinely mean that. She has been one of my favourite co-actresses, and we’ve done some really nice work—Josh, Mohabbatein, Devdas—and enjoyed ourselves together, and we get along really well. Personally, it is very saddening not to… for something to reach at this level. I feel very sorry about it, and I genuinely do.”
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Further, Shah Rukh also mentioned that his hands were tied as he was one of the many producers of the film, and they went with what the others wanted. The actor added that he was personally very saddened by the turn of events which unfolded on the sets of Chalte Chalte. Talking further about his feelings, SRK said:
“As a producer, my hands were tied because I am not the only producer. I have a team of people, and this time we also have UTV who is working with us. The collective decision of 10-11 people. We were also not been doing very well as producers. That was at stake. Personally, if you ask me, Aishwarya is very professional, but I think we were a little saddened by the whole affair and we thought it wasn’t meant to be. It was not superstition; it was a professional decision and even professionally we feel very bad. There’s no two ways about it.”
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According to several reports, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were to act together in other blockbuster films like Munnabhai MBBS and Veer Zaara. However, things did not pan out as they wanted them to, but years later, the duo was seen together in the 2016 Karan Johar directorial, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
What do you think about Shah Rukh Khan’s decision to replace Aishwarya Rai in Chalte Chalte? Share with us.
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