Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan started their careers in the same era, and despite being huge stars since the early 90s, they have never been cast in the same film. In a new interview, producer Ratan Jain recently revealed that the two stars were supposed to star together in Mansoor Khan’s film Josh. The ultimate movie It starred Shah Rukh Khan And Chandrashwar Singh in the two roles offered to Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir. The film also starred Aishwarya Rai, and at one point, even Salman Khan was offered the role that would make him Aishwarya’s on-screen brother Max.
In a conversation with TV9 Bharatvarsh, Ratan Jain revealed that he wanted to cast Shah Rukh in the role of Max, but Mansoor was interested in casting Aamir in the role. “We decided that Aamir will play the role that Chandrashore Khan did and Shahrukh will play Max. Mansoor told me that Aamir wants to play Max. I said, ‘Absolutely not, only Shah Rukh will do it, or I will not do the film.'” Aamir and director Mansoor are cousins, and Aamir made his film debut with his film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
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Ratan pointed out that since Shah Rukh Khan heard through the grapevine that Aamir had his eyes on the same role, he called for a joint narrative. On the day of the narration, the director and producer, along with Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir, reached the same place but before the narration could begin, Mansoor revealed Aamir’s intentions. “Before the narration, Mansoor said that Aamir wanted to play Max. SRK put on his shoes and left. He said, ‘I won’t do the film then,'” Mansoor recalls.
Since Shah Rukh Khan was now out of the picture, Mansoor pushed for Aamir’s casting but Ratan was sure that the role should be played by Shah Rukh Khan. Now that both Aamir and Shahrukh are out of the picture, the film has been postponed. Later, it was shown to Salman Khan, and he was very interested in taking it up. “Salman agreed. We approached Akshaye Khanna, Saif Ali Khan and Chandrachur Singh, but the director wanted Chandrachur,” he said.
Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
Ratan noted that it was around this time that Salman was offered Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and while he agreed to do Josh, Ratan Jain felt more inclined towards accepting Bhansali’s project. He said: “I went back to Shah Rukh Khan. I told him that this has happened, and Salman doesn’t seem to want to do this.” After listening to his producer, Shah Rukh Khan asked him if he could have some time to think about it. “I told Shah Rukh: ‘Ab karni Padegi, meri izzat ka swal hai (Now you have to do it, it’s about my honor now).’ The next day he called me and said, “I’m doing it.”
When asked how Aishwarya was cast, Ratan said that she was already a part of the film when they were finalizing Max. After playing on-screen siblings in Josh, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya played love interests in Mohabbatein. Aishwarya was also a part of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and there began her rumored relationship with Salman, which eventually ended after a few years.
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Besides Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya and Chandrashore, the film also starred Sharad Kapoor and Priya Gill.
(Tags for translation)Salman Khan
