Daily Times

Bollywood filmmaker Rakesh Roshan revealed that superstar Salman Khan was not his first choice for the lead role in his reincarnation saga ‘Karan Arjun’.

Ahead of the film’s re-release in cinemas this Friday, November 22, veteran filmmaker Rakesh Roshan has made a surprising revelation about the casting of the cult classic masala film, sharing that not Salman Khan but Ajay Devgn was his first choice to star as Arjun Singh.

He initially signed Shah Rukh Khan after working with him in ‘King Uncle’ previously, while Ajay he had known since childhood, due to a close bond Roshan shared with his father, action choreographer Veeru Devgn.

In a new interview with an Indian media outlet, Roshan recalled, “They both came to me – Shah Rukh and Ajay. They said, ‘Sir, we want to talk to you. We want to interchange our image. My (Shah Rukh’s) image is romantic, his (Ajay’s) image is of an action hero. I want to do action, and he’d do romantic’.”

The filmmaker tried to convince the actors by telling them that he was ‘making a wholesome film’ and both the main characters would have ‘action and romance’, but neither Khan nor Devgn was convinced by his idea, so he approached Salman and Aamir Khan for the project, as they had also starred together in the cult comedy ‘Andaz Apna Apna’.

“Then Shah Rukh came back to me. He said, ‘No no, let me do it. You gave me my break. I’m getting sleepless nights that I’m not doing the film.’ So I told Aamir that now I have Shah Rukh’s dates,” Roshan recalled.

Besides the biggest Bollywood superstars Salman and Shah Rukh Khan, ‘Karan Arjun’ starred Raakhee, Kajol and Mamta Kulkarni. Considered a cult entertainer, the title emerged as an all-time blockbuster upon release and also received positive reviews from critics.