When Aladdin star Naomi Scott was mistaken for Deepika Padukone
In an interview, Naomi Scott said a member of her film's crew once thought that she stars in the Ram Leela song Nagada Sang Dhol Baje
English actress and singer Naomi Grace Scott, who is best known for her role as Princess Jasmine in Disney's musical live-action fantasy film Aladdin, in an earlier interview revealed that she was mistaken for Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone on a film set.
During an interview with BBC Naomi recalled how a crew member of her film thought that she is Deepika. She confessed that she liked this confusion and did not even correct it.
In an interview to BBC, when the interviewer asked her if Princess Jasmine was inspired by Bollywood actresses, Naomi said, “I have to tell you this funny story. Do you know Nagada Sang Dhol? I was playing it on set -- and I had an American cast and crew -- so I’m playing it because I love that song so much, and literally someone was like, ‘Oh it’s so beautiful, Nay, is that you?’ and I was just like, ‘Yeah, it is, it is.’”
She continued, “I thought to myself, ‘you could be compared to worse people than Deepika, so I’ll take that because she’s pretty beautiful’.” Directed by Guy Ritchie, Aladdin went on to become a billion-dollar hit. Actor Tara Sutaria was also in the running for the role of Princess Jasmine.
Aladdin hit the theatres on May 24 last year. Important roles including that of Aladdin, Genie, Jafar and The Sultan have been essayed by eminent actors like Mena Massoud, Will Smith, Marwan Kenzari and Navid Negahban, respectively.
Naomi went on to star in the rebooted version of Charlie’s Angels, and has also signed up for an Aladdin sequel. Deepika, meanwhile, made her Hollywood debut opposite Vin Diesel in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.