Shah Rukh Khan initially turned down Dilwale Dulhaniya Lee Jaayenge (Photo Credit – Amazon Prime Video)
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Surprisingly enough, Shah Rukh Khan was initially not interested in playing the lead role of Raj. Read on to find out how legendary director Aditya Chopra convinced the Badshah of Bollywood for this role.
In the Netflix release, The Romantics, Aditya Chopra remembered the time before he started shooting for DDLJ. He had assisted his father Yash Chopra, in the film Darr, which starred Sunny Deol, Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan. Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra became close friends on the sets of Darr. Aditya was so impressed by his acting that he cast Shah Rukh Khan as the lead role in his directorial debut.
When Aditya Chopra, along with Karan Johar (Adi’s assistant director), narrated the story to King Khan, he wasn’t impressed with the subject. According to him, “It wasn’t the film I wanted to hear. However, Aditya Chopra was aware about the potential that SRK had and would always tell him that his expressive eyes had a story to tell apart from action movies.”
Shah Rukh was not interested, and Aditya tried his best convincing the star, and then came a point when Aditya started losing patience, but still he was firm on his decision. Aditya Chopra recalled visiting the sets of ‘Trimurti’, where an aged female fan of SRK expressed her thought that she didn’t like that he dies in every film. This was a turning point for Aditya Chopra, where he took the opportunity and gave life-changing advice to the star. Aditya said, “Because in India, a true superstar is the one who connects with a large audience by becoming every mother’s son, every sister’s brother, and every girl’s dream.” He then had a conversation with SRK and insisted him to not miss any offer to star in a love story and to reconsider what his fan said. Shortly after thinking about what Adi said, Shah Rukh Khan agreed for the film.
Dilwale Dulhaniya Lee Jaayenge remains the audience’s favorite film even after 25 years of its release. Thus, the actor gained the title of “King of Romance” in Bollywood. For those unaware, Shah Rukh Khan has collaborated with Yash Raj several times in blockbuster movies like Veer Zaara, Mohabbatein, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and many more.
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