When Fatima Sana Shaikh Signed Thugs Of Hindostan After Deepika Padukone & Three Bollywood Divas Were Reportedly Asked To Do The Film For Almost Free – Here’s Why!
Deepika Padukone and three other actresses were asked to sign Thugs of Hindostan almost for free and they left the film.
When Fatima Sana Shaikh Signed Thugs Of Hindostan For Almost Free (Picture Credit: Facebook & IMDB)
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Fatima Sana Shaikh is one of the few actresses who was launched with a bang but then was buried under the extraordinary expectations built after their performance in their debut films. While she made a brilliant debut with Aamir Khan’s Dangal in 2016 she had to struggle hard for her second film.
When Aamir Khan moved to Thugs of Hindostan from Dangal, rumors were rife that he tried hard to pitch his on-screen daughter Fatima in the film. However, at that time, Deepika Padukone was a part of the film.
DP initially joined the film opposite Hrithik Roshan, who was the original choice for the Thugs Of Hindostan. But since Hrithik demanded a lot of changes in the script, he was unceremoniously dropped from the film, and Aamir was very keen to come on board immediately.
However, Aamir charged a hefty amount plus a considerable profit percentage in the film, but since he was the man of the moment, Aditya Chopra agreed to all the demands. But guess what was his plan to compensate against Aamir’s overpriced act? To cast an actress who might do the film for free!
When Deepika Padukone came to know that Hrithik was no longer a part of the film and Aditya wanted to pay nothing to the actress and everything to the actor, she politely refused to be a part of the ensemble and moved on. Alia Bhatt and Shraddha Kapoor also passed the offer due to the same reason.
This left Aditya Chopra with two choices – His choice, Vaani Kapoor, and Aamir Khan’s choice, Fatima Sana Shaikh. But the bottom line was – whoever probably charged less! A source close to BizAsia was quoted in 2017, “The actresses had loved the script as it revolved around the female protagonist taking revenge, but the talks fizzled out when they realized that Aditya Chopra wanted them to sign the film almost for free. There was a discussion about whether Vaani or Fatima suited the role better — the latter was Aamir’s choice and the former Adi’s. Eventually, Aamir had his way.”
The film, however, was a disaster at the box office, and it pushed Aamir Khan to take a sabbatical of almost 4 years, only to face another disaster with Laal Singh Chaddha in 2022. The actor is on another sabbatical currently! As for Fatima Sana Shaikh, the actress was seen playing Indira Gandhi in Sam Bahadur and played a biker in Dhak Dhak. Clearly, Thugs of Hindostan did not work much for the actress!
