The 2008 blockbuster Ghajini broke several records at the box office as it became the first Hindi film to earn over Rs 100 crore net in India and hence, began the 100-crore club. Aamir Khan played the leading role, Asin made her Bollywood debut, and Pradeep Rawat played the titular role of the antagonist.
Ghajini also marked the Bollywood debut of the filmmaker AR Murugadoss and it was the official remake of his own 2005 Tamil film headlined by Suriya. Aamir played Sanjay Singhania, a short-term memory loss patient, who sets out to avenge the death of her love interest Kalpana, essayed by Asin. Asin and Pradeep Rawat reprised their roles from the Tamil movie.
But, the 3 Idiots actor wasn't the first choice for Ghajini as the director wanted to rope in Salman Khan for his film. In a recent interview, Pradeep Rawat revealed how he convinced Murugadoss to cast Aamir, instead of Salman. Speaking to the popular YouTuber Siddharth Kannan, he said, "Murugadoss used to keep saying ‘I want to make it in Hindi, I want to make it in Hindi." The actor shared that Murugadoss was very fond of Salman and wanted to cast him.
"I thought in my mind ‘Salman is short-tempered and Murugdoss doesn’t speak in English or Hindi. He didn’t even have a personality back then.' I thought Aamir would be the right choice for the role because he was cool-tempered and behaves respectfully with everyone. In the past 25 years, I have not seen Aamir shout or yell at anyone. He has never disrespected anyone or used abusive language. So I thought, nature-wise, Salman cannot be handled or there would be unnecessary complications", Pradeep further added. He even said that he was the one who pursued Aamir and after six months, when he saw the Tamil movie, he immediately came on board for the Hindi remake.
After 2008, AR Murugadoss has now finally collaborated with Salman Khan after 28 years. Salman's next film Sikandar is being directed by Murugadoss. The film, which stars Rashmika Mandanna as the leading lady, is slated to release on Eid 2025.
READ | Meet actor, who was once Aamir, Shah Rukh's rival, never became superstar, worked as hotel manager, is now...
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