EXCLUSIVE: Subhash Ghai reveals that why he didn’t sign Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Pardes

Subhash Ghai, who was known as the ‘showman’ of Bollywood, recalled the time when he was making Pardes that made Mahima Chaudhary an overnight star.  The filmmaker also revealed that while there was pressure from many about signing superstars for the film including Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit, he remained firm on his decision of casting newbies feature in the film. He revealed the reason he avoided superstars except Shah Rukh Khan in the 1997 popular film Pardes in this exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama.

Subhash Ghai told Bollywood Hungama, “Main chahta tha ki Pardes film koi nayi ladki karein. Humare paas Madhuri signed thi pehle hi 3 filmon ke liye aur Ganga subject unko pasand bhi tha. Pehle Pardes ka naam Ganga tha. Salman saab ka bhi message aaya tha ki he is keen to work with us. Toh mere office walon ne kahan Pardes mein film bana rahein hai, do hero hain, toh why not sign Shah Rukh, Salman, and Madhuri. Distributor ya commerce ke le ya humare dil mein jo baat hai ki Ganga nayi ladki ko hi karni chahiye, ye karein. Lekin maine socha mujhe toh nayi ladki hi chahiye. Madhuri Dixit was a star and aur agar itni badi star ko main agar boli bhaali ladki ki tarah dikhaonga toh lagega ki now she is becoming crafty. Toh mere hisaab se maine jo script likha hai usmein nayi ladki and naya ladki hi hona chahiye tha. (I wanted Pardes film to feature a newbie despite the fact that we had Madhuri Dixit on board for a three film deal. She had also loved the script of Ganga. For the unversed, Ganga was the name of Pardes before. We had also received a message from Salman Sir  about being interested in doing a film. While many in my office thought it would be a great decision to sign Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit for the film along with the distributors, I remained adamant on my decision. At that time, Madhuri was a star and to portray her as a simple, innocent, small town girl, it wouild like she is becoming crafty. So according to me and the script, the film required a new girl and boy to play those characters.)”

He went on to add, “Mere company wale keh rahe the ki star cast wali banani chahiye aur main keh raha tha ki mujhe star cast wali film nahi chahiye. Yeh teen mahine tak chalta raha. Distributors ne bhi kaha ki yeh star cast leyenge toh jo price maango woh deyenge lekin maine kahan yeh nayi star cast lo aur jo price aap deyenge woh main lelunga. Toh unke laga shayad main ghamand aur ego mein baat kar raha hoon. Toh mainne unko bola ki main uska value aur kahani tab bataunga jab picture release hogi. (The people in my company too were keen on casting the superstars and I remained firm on my stand. This went on for 3 months. Distributors told me that if I brought the three superstars on board, they would pay me any amount I want. In turn, I told them I will take whatever price you give for the newbies. They thought I was being proud or egoistic but I reasoned with them that I will explain my decision to them when the film releases).”

Pardes featured Shah Rukh Khan, Mahima Chaudhary, and Apurva Agnihotri in lead roles.

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