Aishwarya Rai Revealed Salman Khan Was Chosen To Play Her Brother In A Film While They Were Dating

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is one of the phenomenal actresses in Bollywood. In a career spanning over two decades, the actress won many hearts with her brilliant acting spree. Aishwarya has romanced almost every popular actor in Bollywood, from Shah Rukh Khan to Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, and created magic on screen with every one of them.

Salman Khan was the first choice to play Aishwarya Rai’s brother in the film, Josh

Back in 2000, Aishwarya Rai romanced Chandrachur Singh in the film, Josh, which was directed by Mansoor Khan. She played the role of SRK’s sister in the film. Eventhough the film failed to impress the audience, the casting became the talk of the town. Interestingly, it was for the first time that Shah Rukh and Aishwarya shared the screen space, but not as lovers. Instead, they played the role of brother-sister in Josh. However, not many know that Salman Khan was the first choice to play Aishwarya’s brother in the film.

Aishwarya Rai revealed Salman Khan was to be casted as her on-screen brother

Recently, we stumbled on a video of Aishwarya Rai wherein the diva made the revelation that Mansoor Khan was keen to make the film with Salman and Aamir. She told an entertainment portal that while her role was fixed in the movie, the director wanted to cast Salman in place of Shah Rukh and Aamir instead of Chandrachur Singh. In her words:

‘I think the cast was meant to be Aamir [Khan] and Salman at one point and eventually it became Shah Rukh and I think Aamir (Khan) at some point was to play Chandrachur (Singh)’s role. So the cast kept changing at different points of time but Sherly remained Sherly. So I had said yes to Mansoor (Khan).’

Interestingly, at that time, Aishwarya Rai was dating Salman Khan. For the unversed, the two met on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and soon, love blossomed between them. The two painted the town red with their PDA back then, and their fans adored them. However, after being in a relationship for a few years, they parted ways in 2001.

When Aishwarya Rai revealed she didn’t walk out of Bajirao Mastani

Initially, Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to cast Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai in the film, Bajirao Mastani. Back then, reports were rife that Aishwarya walked out of the film as she didn’t want to act with Salman, with whom she had parted ways. However, speaking to Karan Johar on his chat show, Koffee With Karan, Aishwarya opened up about why she did not sign the film, Bajirao Mastani. She shared that when she and Salman Khan did justice to their roles in the film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Sanjay was keen to cast them together. Sharing why things didn’t work out, Aishwarya said:

“He (Sanjay) did see us working as the cast that he saw was ideal for the film. But circumstantially, I could not work with the kind of team he was looking at.’

Speaking along the same lines, Aishwarya Rai revealed that she was ready to play the role of ‘Mastani’, but she didn’t want to act alongside her ex-flame, Salman Khan. However, she added that soon reports circulated in the media that Aishwarya walked out of Bajirao Mastani. Revealing that she was admitted to the hospital back then so she couldn’t clear the air around the same, Aishwarya added:

“Well, I was game to play Mastani but not with the Bajirao he had in mind. So, this was evident probably nationally. The media made it out to be that Aishwarya walks out of Bajirao Mastani. We hadn’t communicated then because I was in hospital with my leg laid up.’