Aishwarya Rai was initially starring in Chalte Chalte.
Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were selected to play the lead roles in Chalte Chalte (2003), but were replaced a few days after filming began.
It is no secret that Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were the first choices for Chalte Chalte. Produced under Shah Rukh and Juhi Chawla’s Dreamz Unlimited, the film had already begun shooting when Rani Mukerji was brought in midway, replacing Aishwarya. At a get-together with Simi Garewal, Aishwarya revealed that she was replaced “without any explanation”.
Now, a video has surfaced on Reddit in which Shah Rukh opened up about replacing Aishwarya and confessed that he was ‘saddened’ by the development. Describing them as ‘very close friends’, Shah Rukh said that as a producer his hands were tied and decisions were made by everyone involved at the producer’s table.
“Deeply saddened that Aishwarya was a very close friend of mine, I have done some really great films with her and that is what I really want to say. She has been one of my favorite co-actresses and we have done some really great work – Josh, Mohabbatein, Devdas – and enjoyed together, and we get along really well. Personally, it is very sad that something has not reached this level. “I’m very sorry about that and I really do,” he said in the clip shared on stage.
“As a producer, my hands were tied as I am not the only producer. I have a team of people and this time we also have UTV working with us. Collective decision of 10-11 people. We weren’t doing very well as producers either. That was at stake. The reputation of the entire company is at stake, we wanted to finish the film in three to four months. Personally if you ask me, Aishwarya is very professional, but I think we were a little saddened by the whole thing and we thought it shouldn’t have happened. It was not superstition, it was a professional decision and we feel very bad professionally as well. There is no doubt about it,” Shahrukh said.
Aishwarya and Shah Rukh weren’t just acting in Chalte Chalte. He was also on board for four other films including Munna Bhai MBBS and Veer-Zaara. Ultimately the films did not go according to plan. The two actors shared screen space for over a decade after the incident. They finally came together again in 2016 for Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, in which Shah Rukh made a cameo, playing Aishwarya’s former partner. They shared an important scene in the film.
