The most significant replacement bid of all time was Zanjeer. Prakash Mehra’s fiery script couldn’t impress the likes of Dev Anand, Dharmendra and Raj Kumar to don the grease paint for the film. The role of a righteous, incensed cop with a tumultuous past didn’t seem interesting to these stalwarts who wanted many changes to be made in the script suiting their image. While Dharmendra chickened out on the pretext of date issues, Dev Anand wanted to turn it into a musical and Raj Kumar wanted it to be shot in Chennai.
Finally on Pran’s insistence, who played the role of Sher Khan in the film, Prakash Mehra reluctantly signed a virtually unknown lanky actor riding on seven flops, Amitabh Bachchan. And rest as they say was history with the film becoming a big success and the emergence of a superstar for whom no role is difficult to portray. Amitabh Bachchan also became synonymous to the famous epithet of ‘The Angry Young Man’ of Bollywood. The man is yet to age at 66 and gets role tailor-made for him even today!
Same thing happened during the filming of Don. Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, and Dharmendra refused to do the film because they were too conscious of their image. Don was a story of a smuggler and a Police Inspector’s drive to bring him to book by getting a duplicate placed in his place when the real Don dies. Since the lead character had grey shades, the stalwarts backed out as they thought it might tarnish their goody-two-shoes image in the audience’s mind. And so Amitabh Bachchan volunteered to step in and Don became Big B’s one of the most enticing film ever.
It might sound as if it was just Amitabh Bachchan who had all the luck of being at the right place at the right time. But it’s not true. Even our Baadshah was lucky by chance when he bagged Darr. Shah Rukh Khan became a sensation, though as an anti-hero, with Darr. In fact, he was the first actor who initiated his Bollywood career with negative roles, First Baazigar and then Darr. Coming to the latter, Darr was a Yash Chopra film. So quite obviously, whoever is associated with it, will benefit from it all through his/her life. But Aamir Khan thought otherwise. He too was conscious of his image with the public. Post Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Dil, he became the chocolate hero of all teenage girls and he just didn’t want to do away with that image. So he refused to play the role of a stammering, obsessive and aggressive lover, Rahul Mehra. There’s where Yash Chopra thought of signing a nobody and zeroed in on a thin guy with tousled hair to do the role. And thus came Shah Rukh Khan into the film who immortalised KKK…..Kiran. Today may be these two Khans are busy getting even with each other, but Shah
Rukh Khan can’t help but thank Aamir for casually rejecting the role of Rahul Mehra and he bagging it. Darr started his decade-old relationship with the Chopras and gave Indian Cinema one of it’s biggest blockbuster of all time, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Actresses too had their fair share of being suddenly lucky and then getting a thumping win at the box-office. Manisha Koirala won over Madhuri Dixit in bagging the lead role in 1942: A Love Story as Madhs couldn’t impress Vidhu Vinod Chopra with her prowess. It might sound surprising and strange, but it’s a fact which changed Manisha’s career altogether. She suddenly became every filmmaker’s first choice.
Similarly, Rani Mukerji too became a sensation only after a host of A-league actresses refused to star in Karan Johar’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Apparently, Rani never crossed Karan Johar’s mind when he wrote the character of Tina for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It was tailor-made for Akshay Kumar’s wife Twinkle Khanna. He had even called the character Tina because it was Twinkle’s nickname. But she refused the role without any concrete reason and nearly everyone from Raveena Tandon to Madhuri Dixit did the same as they didn’t want to play second fiddle to Kajol. That’s when KJo spotted Rani in Ghulam and approached her. For a newcomer, Dharma Productions’ film is a blessing in disguise, and Rani grabbed the offer. When the film released, all the three main leads, Shah Rukh khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji became a rage. Youngsters just couldn’t help but become friends and fall in love, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai style.
Even before the corporate could take-over the industry, remuneration was a major factor while signing on the dotted lines. Stars with only one solo hit would demand unheard-of prices for working in a film, which led many to opt out of virtually prospective projects. And one name that deserves a first mention here is Kareena Kapoor. Even in a time when she was just doing poo-sized roles in multi-starrer film like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Bebo had the guts to ask sky-high price for starring in Karan’s Kal Ho Na Ho. A shocked KJo immediately dumped her and got Preity Zinta on board. PZ badly needed a big budget and big banner movie to survive in the industry and she couldn’t have asked for more. Kareena was later heard nursing her wounds at a party where she admitted the mistake and even patched up with
KJo. Now she’s working in Karan’s film on jehadis but at what price, is still a mystery.
Others in the league were, Raveena Tandon in Mohra which was supposed to be done by Divya Bharti, John Abraham who bagged Water after Akshay Kumar backed out, Saif Ali Khan, who became a star after Hum Tum released which was rejected by Vivek Oberoi, Karisma Kapoor grabbed the National Award for Best Supporting actress for her role of an energetic and high-sprirted girl, in Dil to Pagal Hai. The role was first offered to Urmila Matondkar but she dumped it for Judaai.
In the recent times, Priyanka Chopra got lucky when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan backed out of Karan’s Dostana thinking her relationship with Abhishek would mire the film and so PC stepped into her shoes. Dostana was a huge hit and Priyanka is now the most-sought after heroine in Bollywood.
Whatever may be the cause of stars rejecting a script be or others accepting it, it nevertheless made stars out of mere unknown faces. Had this not been the case, we wouldn’t have the powerful and towering presence of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan looming over the industry, who bail it out every time it’s in trouble.
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