5 hindi movies castings that misfired badly...

They say, in order to be successful, you need to be at the right place at the right time, and if we talk about movies, especially Hindi Movies, this seems to be more than mere conjuncture. Almost every big star had their big moment, when any big star, at their prime, left a role that was unique/bold as per their times and thereby paving way for a relatively new comer to show his/her skills, e.g. Amitabh Bachchan got the famous role of Zanjeer after the role was rejected by almost every big star at that time including Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand.

Today, we will not talk about these cliched instances; rather we will look at the other way around. Let’s see all those movies/roles which were meant for someone else and the roles were offered to another actor/actress and the later couldn’t do justice with the tailor-made roles.

#5: Amitabh Bachchan/Jackie Shroff : King Uncle

This 1993, Rakesh Roshan directed movie was about a rich guy who hate poor people and kids because of a traumatized childhood. The role of the protagonist was earlier offered to Amitabh Bachchan. He turned down because of his semi-retirement in mid 90s. AB did come back from his retirement and after some forgetful movies like Lal Baadshaah, acted in various movies as an elderly strict father with strict rules only to melt down in the climax, similar to the plot of King Uncle. Had he acted in this movie, he would have saved the Indian audience from an awful looking Jackie Shroff with the worst ever moustache-job and a failed attempt of rib-tickling humor. May be this could be the first confrontation in Hindi movies between the then lesser known actor SRK and AB!

#4: Karishma Kapoor/Twinkle Khann: Mela

Although this is a proven fact that the 2000 flick Mela was awful in every sense and even an actor of the caliber of Aamir Khan could not save it from sinking, but here is a unique trivia: Director Dharmesh Darshan’s original choice for this movie was Karishma Kapoor, the trio (Dharmesh Darshan, Aamir Khan, Karishma Kapoor) previously collaborated for the Superhit Raja Hindustani. Kapoor left the project citing date issues and so Twinkle Khanna was roped in. Dharmesh Darshan was so much obsessed with Karishma Kapoor’s look in Raja Hindustani that he made Twinkle Khanna to wear the same clothes and wigs. Twinkle Khanna clearly lacked all the oomph and latkas and jhatkas for a role which was never meant for her thereby contributing for the biggest disaster of that year!

#3: Aishwarya Rai/Manisha Koirala: Mann

This 1999 movie, directed by Indra Kumar, was earlier offered to Aishwarya Rai. She could not do it because of prior date commitments, after which the role went to Manisha Koirala. Despite having a interesting plot, Aamir Khan’s presence and a good opening, the movie was a Box-Office Average courtesy a lackluster performance by the aging superstar Manisha Koirala. Many trade analysts attributed the fact that the movie lacked fresh appeal. Cinema goers could not digest a rich Casanova failing for Manisha Koirala. Interestingly, at the same time Aishwarya Rai’s Hum Dil De Chuke released and it fared well!

 

#2: Kajol/Rani Mukherjee: Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

This 2006 Karan Johar movie was earlier offered to Kajol, which she said no, because her character was shown to do infidelity with her husband. The role was then passed on to Rani Mukherjee who was supposed to play Preity Zinta’s character. According to Karan Johar, the casting and infidelity factor were written keeping in mind an elderly lady being married to a young Abhishek Bachchan and a relatively younger lady married to ShahRukh Khan and thus the audience will more understand why their respective marriage is not working. This movie is a classic example of casting went wrong.

#1: Sanjay Dutt/Anil Kapoor: Trimurti

The 1995 Shubhash Ghai multi-starrer movie was supposed to star Sanjay Dutt and after he went jail in TADA case, the role was given to Anil Kapoor. This was a role tailor-made for Sanjay Dutt, as someone who doesn’t believe in ideologies, sets his own rule, has his own style quotient and even the antagonist of the movie fears him. This role had Sanjay Dutt written all over it. 

Bonus Round:

If you think, this happens with only the actor/actress read this:

Shekhar Kapur/Satish Kaushik: Roop Ki Raani Choron Ka Raja

The movie Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, was earlier supposed to be directed by Shekhar Kapur, following their successful collaboration in Mr. India. Once he left midway, Satish Kaushik was roped in to complete the movie and as a result the movie suffered with poor screenplay and script and was a box-office disaster.

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