International star Priyanka Chopra is all over the news for sharing what lead to her flying to Hollywood, away from B-town. She was also backed and joined by a lot of industry folks who called out the ills of Bollywood.
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After her fiery interview with American actor Dax Shepard on his podcast, an old video of Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai has surfaced online.
In the now-viral video, the ‘Devdas’ actor is seen sharing how she was in despair when she was removed and replaced from five of her movie commitments without her knowledge or fault.
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During her conversation with Simi Garewal on her show ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’, the host said to Rai that she was working with Shah Rukh Khan on five films.
“Weren’t you? Aish. Veer Zara was written for you,” she exclaimed.
Responding to it, Aishwarya said, “Yes, at that time, there were talks about a couple of films that we’d be working on, together. And then, suddenly, they weren’t happening with no explanations whatsoever. I have never had the answer to ‘why?’.” Rai’s disappointment proves that it wasn’t her decision.
Talking about how did she feel after being removed from these big banner films, Rai said:
“You obviously are taken aback, confused, and, of course, hurt. You wonder about it.”
Revealing if that experience changed her outlook on how things work in Bollywood, she said:
“You become more aware of what you’ve heard about, like in terms of situations, people having a dominos effect on other people or other projects. It became obvious that it can happen to me too with all your apparent box office success or ‘secure positioning’ in the industry.”
Throwback to when Aishwarya was removed from 5 big banner films and ended up working in the West
by u/goldengirlsunehri in BollyBlindsNGossip
In the same interview when Rai was asked if she ever questioned Shah Rukh about his decision, she said, “It’s not in my nature to. If a person feels a need to explain it, they will.”
“If they never did, they never intend to. So, it’s not in my nature to get into questioning what and why. Probably within myself, but I wouldn’t go up to a person and ask why. By the grace of God, I’m not defined by the other.”
Hindustan Times said in an article that in 2003, Shah Rukh Khan had spoken to India Today about his decision to remove Aishwarya from the movies.
“To start a project with someone and then change her for no fault of hers is very difficult. It is very sad as Ash is a good friend. Personally, I think I did wrong. But as a producer it made sense. I apologized to Ash.”
Chalte Chalte, Kal Ho Naa Ho, and Veer Zaara were among the five movies wherein Aishwarya and Shah Rukh Khan were supposed to work together.
You can watch the entire interview here.
Clearly, it’s hard to survive in Bollywood, especially if you’re a weak-willed outsider. What do you think?