Meet actress, who left high-paying job at Morgan Stanley, made debut opposite superstar, then saw multiple flops, now...
Ameesha Patel/Instagram
After her first two films Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Gadar, Ameesha Patel starred in multiple flops. Her next hit came after 22 years as Gadar 2 in 2023.
Before making her memorable debut in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Ameesha Patel had rejected films opposite two star kids - Prem Aggan opposite Feroz Khan's son Fardeen Khan and Himalaya Putra opposite Vinod Khanna's son Akshaye Khanna. Then what made her choose the 2000 romantic drama opposite Rakesh Roshan's son Hrithik Roshan? In a recent interview, Ameesha recalled how she was offered Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai three days before the filming again.
In a recent conversation on the BeautybyBiE YouTube channel, Ameesha said, "I attended a filmy wedding with my family reluctantly. Back then I was working as a head economic analyst. Mr Rakesh Roshan was entering the venue, when I was exiting it. He looked at me, blinked for a while, looked at my father and asked him, 'Girlfriend?' My father said, 'No, Rakesh. This is Ameesha. She just graduated and returned from Boston.' And that was all the conversation that they had. If only I left a little later, or he came a little earlier, I don’t think the meeting would have happened at all."
Ameesha added that she was then invited to lunch next day at Rakesh Roshan's house and she was reluctant for the same. "'Oh my god, not gonna go all the way from Marine Drive to Juhu.' I didn’t want to go. I was also not aware that he was actually inviting me for lunch to offer me my first movie Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Like any teenager, I went with a white t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, no makeup, hair in a ponytail and sulking that I had to make this whole journey. I reached his home and entered the bar room. Hrithik was sitting there. We had been friends when we were kids. We had pretty much similar social circle. I looked at him and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, you have become a hell of a handsome guy’. And then I said, 'Forget all that, where is the washroom?' That was my first sentence to him. And he just looked at me and said, 'This girl is cracked.' I went to use the washroom. "
"In my absence, while I was in the washroom, I don’t know what happened. But, Hrithik and Rakesh uncle told me later that after Rakesh uncle returned from the wedding, he didn’t sleep all night. He said, ‘I found our Soniya for the film.’ And Hrithik was waiting to see me. And they exchanged a thumbs up, when I was in the washroom. They still hadn’t told me at that point what I was there for. I thought it was just a social lunch. We had our lunch. There was Rakesh uncle, his wife, Pinky aunty, and Hrithik. After lunch, I said, ‘I better head back, I had a long trip. And Rakesh uncle told me, ‘No Ameesha, wait, can you tell me one thing? What is your plan for future?’ I said, honestly, I am at the crossroads, I don’t know whether I want to go back to Boston and study further or take up the job offer I had received from Morgan Stanley, who were quite impressed with my CV. They needed someone well-exposed and educated to represent them. It was a fabulous position. I was quite confused at that point in my life, which I expressed to Rakesh uncle. But, none matched what he had in store for me", the actress further recalled.
Ameesha then stated, "He said, 'But, what about films? And I am like, 'What about it?' He said, 'Have you considered acting?' I said, 'I do a skit or two in school and university. I have won awards in dramatics for Best Director, and Best Actor. I am a Bharatnatyam trained dancer. But, if you are asking me about Bollywood, I have no such intentions. He then took out a contract. He said, ‘I am offering you a film, would you like to do it?’ I was like, ‘What film?’ He said, ‘I want to launch you with my son.’ And I said, ‘Really? But, I don’t know anything about acting.’ He was like, ‘Really?’ And I thought about it for like five minutes and said, ‘Okay, let me just do it'."
Sharing why she instantly agreed to do the film, Ameesha concluded, "I was like, 'What worse can happen? The film will fail, and I will go back to doing what I was doing–my education, and job. Before this, I had other offers too. Vinod Khanna uncle had offered me Himalaya Putra with Akshaye. Feroz Khan uncle had offered me Prem Aggan with Fardeen. But, all these films were being filmed when I was in the university. So, I kept declining these offers. Films wasn’t on my radar. But, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai was maybe meant to be."
After Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Ameesha Patel's next film was an even bigger hit - Gadar: Ek Prem Katha with Sunny Deol. The actress then starred in multiple flops including Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, Vaada, Elaan, Mere Jeevan Saathi, and Ankahee among others. Ameesha's next hit was Gadar 2, which was released in 2023 and became a huge blockbuster.
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