Pakistani actress Mahira Khan made her debut in Bollywood with the film 'Raees' released in 2017. Mahira was cast in the lead role alongside Shahrukh Khan in the film.
However, before Mahira, the makers had also approached actresses like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor and Anushka Sharma for the role.
In an interview, the film's director Rahul Dholakia said why Mahira was cast in the role after approaching such big actresses.
Mahira with Shah Rukh in a scene from the movie 'Raees'.
'Many actresses' fees were too high' Rahul shared this incident in casting director Mukesh Chhabra's podcast. Rahul said- 'We wanted to cast an actress in the film who could play the role of a Muslim girl in the 80s.
At the age of 30, she can speak Hindi fluently and knows some Urdu. We approached actresses like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor and Anushka Sharma for this role but the fees were too high.
'Sonam and Katrina's names were also considered' Rahul further said, 'We also considered the names of Sonam Kapoor and Katrina Kaif but they were not suitable for the role.
We also had to cast an actress who matched Shahrukh's age. In such a situation, we were looking for an innocent-faced but mature actress.
Rahul Dholakia with Shahrukh on the sets of the film 'Raees'.
It turns out that Mahira was in Mumbai that day Meanwhile, Shah Rukh's wife Gauri's mother and my mother both suggested Mahira's name to me separately. Both watched Mahira's Pakistani shows.
When we contacted Mahira, we learned that she was in Mumbai at the time. We auditioned her with the help of casting director Honey Trehan and that's how she got cast in the film.
Gauri Khan's mother and Shah Rukh's mother-in-law Savita Chhibbar suggested Mahira's name for the film to the makers.
It was a dream come true: Mahira Earlier in 2016, Mahira also spoke about this at the Faiz International Festival. The actress said that she got a call for a big film during the promotions of her TV show 'Humsafar' in Mumbai.
After several meetings and auditions, the actress was told that she had been cast alongside Shah Rukh Khan. It was a dream come true for Mahira then.
The story of 'Raees' took place in the 80s. Shah Rukh played the role of a Gujarati gangster in this film.
Shah Rukh, Mahira and Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer 'Raees' released in 2017, grossed Rs 308 crore worldwide. It was directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Gauri Khan.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
