Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was first choice for Shah Rukh Khan’s Darr? Know what went wrong thereafter

According to costume designer Neeta Lulla, Shah Rukh Khan and Yash Chopra's film Darr originally intended for actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. To learn more, continue reading.

Ahana Chaudhury

First Published Jul 26, 2023, 10:58 AM IST

Neeta Lulla's inspiration for her costumes has long been Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Neeta has recently told how she first met Aishwarya when director Yash Chopra was contemplating her as the lead heroine for his film Darr starring Shah Rukh Khan. Their friendship dates back a long time. She also discussed how they selected Aishwarya's wedding attire. Designer Neeta Lulla recently spoke with Bollywood Hungama about seeing actress Aishwarya Rai in the director Yash Chopra's office to conduct a look test for his film Darr. Neeta recalled, "I first saw Aishwarya in late Yash ji's office, where he was debating whether to cast her as Darr. I doubt many people are aware of this. We conducted a type of look test after which he phoned me and suggested that we do the same with her. When I first saw her, Yash ji and I agreed that she was lovely. But he said that since she is competing in the Miss World Pageant and left, things might not work out.

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Juhi Chawla, who co-starred in the box office hit Darr with Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol, ultimately received the lead actress role. Aishwarya Rai, who had previously won the Miss World crown in 1994, later made her acting debut. Her first movie was Mani Ratnam's Iruvar, and she has subsequently been in a number of highly regarded productions, including Guru, Mohabbatein, Jodha Akbar, Dhoom 2, and many others. Today, she has also made a name for herself as a global icon.

“When we were discussing her wedding outfit, she was dressed in her Jodhaa wedding outfit. I remember her saying ‘I’m not dressing like this for my wedding. I want to dress in a kanjeevaram so you have to figure out what has to be done for that. Speak to my mother and you guys do your recce as to where you want to get it woven and what you want to do,' Neeta added.