Kangana Ranaut has made hay in Queen though she was not the director’s first choice and as Revolver Rani she is all set to shine bright instead of Kareena Kapoor Khan who rejected the project. A lot of second choice actors have made it big in roles that turned out to be iconic down the years. Deebashree Mohanty does a total recall to tell you about the missed opportunities that even big stars have rued, Gabbar being one
When Shotgun missed out
Ramesh Sippy initially wanted to cast Shatrughan Sinha as Jai in Sholay, a role Big B eventually played to perfection. Grapevine has it that Amitabh Bachchan convinced his friend Dharmendra to put in a good word for him with the producer to get him the plum role. Dharmendra did the needful and after his talk with Sippy, Sinha was axed from the project. In an interview in 2013, Dharmendra admitted that since then, a miffed Sinha had stopped acknowledging him.
Today, one feels that Jai and senior Bachchan were made for each other but what if Sinha had been taken inIJ “We would have all been khamosh! He is a great actor but I don’t think he was the ideal choice for such a huge role. He was desperately looking for a hit and this film could have turned his career on its head. However, that was not to be. I cannot imagine him as the silent admirer who plays the mouth organ to soothe his angst. For me, Jai is only Amitabh,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh, says.
Even Shotgun’s star daughter Sonakshi Sinha feels that the chemistry between Jai and Veeru was ideally portrayed by Big B and Dharmendra. “I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. Their onscreen chemistry set a trend for dual hero movies. I am sure my father would have been upset to let this opportunity go but that’s part and parcel of being in a film industry,” Sonakshi had said on Koffee with Karan Season 3.
Khan’t get bigger
Amjad Khan almost didn’t get to play Gabbar Singh in Sholay, the role that catapulted him to stardom. Danny Denzongpa was the script-writer Javed Akhtar’s first choice. But since Danny was shooting for Feroz Khan’s Dharmatma in Afghanistan at that time, he had to let go of this project. Amjad Khan was a reluctant second choice as Akhtar strongly felt his voice was not too convincing for a villain.
“Casting is always a gamble and it will be like this for eternity. When filmmakers make a film, they don’t envisage it to be a blockbuster. They make it because they believe in it. When I was scripting Sholay, I had Denzongpa in my mind as a ganglord. But since that didn’t materialise, we shot a few scenes with Amjad. When I saw him on the sets practising Gabbar’s lines, I knew we were about to create a star,” Akhtar says. For now, Akhtar may be busy with his latest album but he says he will always take time out to field queries on Sholay.
Dutt’s the way
According to buzz, it was Shashi Kapoor who was the first choice for the role of Bhootnath in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, but things didn’t go his way. He reported two-and-a-half hours late for a meeting with Guru Dutt and Abrar Alvi which annoyed the two producers and they decided to go without him. A hurt Kapoor vowed to never do a film with Guru Dutt. Meanwhile, Dutt and Alvi finalised Bengali actor Biswajeet, whose Hindi film debut it would have been. But he backed out because he had problems with the contract.
“Both Alvi and Dutt sahib were disgusted that such a brilliant script was not finding a ghulam. In the heat of the moment, Dutt sahib said that if no one came forward he would take up the role. We all know how the role of Bhootnath was appreciated and how iconic it went on to become,” Adarsh recalls. Bollywood, he says, is full of such missed and grabbed opportunities.
But there is still a percentage that feels Shashi Kapoor would have done better given his big, romantic groovy eyes. “A lot of girls used to swoon over him at that time. He would have been a delight to watch but Guru Dutt sahib was at his best in this film,” film commentator Komal Nahata says.
Naya daur for kumar
Veteran Dilip Kumar wasn’t the first choice for BR Chopra’s cult classic Naya Daur. In fact, the role was first offered to Ashok Kumar who declined it as he didn’t like the climax. There was another problem with the casting of this film as the director wanted reigning superstar Madhubala as the female lead. Her father Ataullah Khan refused to allow her to shoot with Dilip Kumar because the couple was in a relationship, much against Khan’s wish. B R Chopra sued Madhubala and her father for breach of contract and the role eventually went to Vyjayanthimala.
“This is the saddest love story in Bollywood. They were such a wonderful onscreen pair. What Dilip Kumar sahib and Madhubala achieved just by sharing screen space, today’s actors can’t replicate even with intimate scenes. Everyone wished they could have acted one last time in Naya Daur together,” Akhtar recalls, dwelling on stories about Madhubala’s sacrifice and Kumar’s undying love for her.
Mother of misses
Director Mehboob Khan wanted to cast Sabu Dastagir, an Indian origin Hollywood star (acted in the Thief Of Baghdad and Jungle Book), for the lead role in Mother India. However, Sabu, an American citizen, could not get a work permit in India. Even Dilip Kumar wanted to act in this film but Nargis said no. She felt that the public would not relate to a formerly romantic jodi to be cast as mother and son. Sunil Dutt finally got the part that became the defining role of his career and also got him his life partner.
Anand for khanna
There is a great story behind the making of Anand, a film that shattered all records at the box office and one which is closest to the legendary filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
Mukherjee was a close friend of Raj Kapoor and conceptualised Anand after being haunted by the thought of his friend’s impending death after Kapoor fell seriously ill. He did not want to cast him as lead because he felt the audience wouldn’t be able to handle his death scene on-screen. So he offered the role to Shashi Kapoor who turned down it down, saying it would be too much of an upheaval for him. Talk has it that the pained director was on the verge of shelving his favourite project when someone recommended Rajesh Khanna’s name.
“There was a lot of turmoil on the sets of Anand. Because this film had a real subject and the director was too involved with it, there were many stoppages. The film took a year to complete, a really long time in those days. But Rajesh Khanna brought the character alive. Mukherjee later admitted that Anand couldn’t have been what it was without Khanna,” Nahata recalls.
Queen of hearts
Rani Mukherji was the ninth heroine to be offered the supporting role of Tina in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Karisma Kapoor and Raveena Tandon had turned down this role as they didn’t want to play second fiddle to Kajol. Karan Johar revealed that he himself wasn’t sure whether Rani would fit into the character of Tina. But she did and Rani went on to become a big star and a lucky charm for Johar.
Fifth time lucky
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was the fifth choice for the role of Inspector Vijay in Zanjeer, released in 1973. Big B was still a beginner without any real hits to his name then. Director Prakash Mehra initially wanted to cast Raaj Kumar but he declined, sighting personal reasons. Mehra approached all top heroes of that time — Dev Anand, Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna but all the three said no. It was Pran who gifted Mehra a video cassette of Bombay To Goa and asked him to check out this newbie Amitabh Bachchan. The rest is history.
Prized khilona
Mumtaz was the last actress to be offered Khilona, opposite Sanjeev Kumar in 1970. The director had approached 18 actors prior to Mumtaz for this role but everyone turned it down because they felt the script was too flat. As luck would have it, not only was the film a superhit but Mumtaz’s performance fetched her the only Filmfare Best Actress Award she ever got.
SRK life for sanju baba
Munna Bhai MBBS was always supposed to be SRK’s film before Sanjay Dutt happened and everything went topsy-turvy. Shah Rukh Khan had already started shooting for the film when there was an accident in the family and he had to opt out at the last minute. It was then that Vidhu Vinod Chopra approached Sanjay Dutt (he was originally considered for the role of the young cancer patient which eventually went to Jimmy Shergill) and Dutt grabbed the offer with open arms.
“It was Sanju’s comic timing that won me over. I doubt, SRK would have fit into the role at all and if the audience would have, at all, liked him in that role. Sanju’s friendship with Arshad Warsi was the integral part of the film and SRK couldn’t have pulled that off,” Adarsh says, adding that, in the end, it all boils down to what a star has to offer to the script.
Right Timing
It comes as a shocker that director Sooraj Barjatiya had finalised little known actor Vikas Bhalla as the main lead opposite Bhagyashree in MainePyaar Kiya. This would have been Bhalla’s debut had Salman Khan not landed up at the set to ask for the job of an assistant director. Bhalla had some issues with the producers and he decided to walk out. Salman grabbed the opportunity.
“Maine Pyaar Kiya had an excellent script and amazing songs but Vikas wouldn’t have done justice to it. Salman was the man for this project and, thank heavens, he landed there at the right time. Khan still laughs it off as a happy coincidence but he knows that if it was not for MPK, he would’ve taken five or more years longer to make it big in Bollywood. Bhalla is obviously not too happy with his decision,” Nahata says.
How Kareena gave it up
“SlB was keen that Kareena play the role of Nandini in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and she had signed it too but on the first day of shoot, Kareena fell ill and needed time off. She requested the filmmaker to proceed and so, Aishwarya was signed at the last minute,” Adarsh concludes.