Anil Sharma reveals Aishwarya Rai casting dilemma in Gadar, reflects on difficult choices

Anil Sharma, who has been riding a wave of popularity with the release of Gadar 2, recently said that he originally wanted Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Kajol to portray the female lead in Gadar. The filmmaker told Bollywood Thikana that there were numerous personalities that sprang to mind to cast as Sakina. However, he had to pick between hiring a high-name actress and casting Amrish Puri as the film’s villain. Sharma ultimately opted to keep Amrish Puri in the picture. “When we were making the film, I had a lot of actress names in my head.” Kajol, Aishwarya. They were in large numbers. I had to read the screenplay to them, and two or three of them heard and approved. A few others declined as well. “I’m not going to go into why they rejected it,” the filmmaker explained.

Ameesha Patel over Aishwarya Rai

“Zed told me that they spoke to an actress who had agreed to star in it but was charging a lot of money,” the filmmaker added, explaining why he picked Amrish Puri. But because the money was limited, they informed me that I had to pick between the heroine and Amrish Puri! So I picked Amrish ji and said that I would cast a new heroine. Amrish ji was really essential. Without him, there would have been no film. He had to be this imposing Ashraf Ali. Then we made the decision to cast a fresh face.”
Gadar and Gadar 2 were both box office smashes. Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel play significant parts in the flicks. Gadar 2 was released in August.