An old video of Aishwarya Rai talking about being dropped from five films appeared online after Priyanka Chopra talked about “being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood)”. When these films were taken away from her without warning, Aishwarya claimed she was shocked and heartbroken. On her show, she discussed it with Simi Garewal.
In the video, Simi has made a reference to Shah Rukh Khan as she averred, “You were working together in five films, weren’t you? Aish. Veer Zara was written for you.” Aishwarya giggled and responded, “There were a couple of films that were supposed to happen with me. But suddenly they weren’t happening, without any reason whatsoever. I have never had the answer to why.”
The performer said, “No, it wasn’t my decision,” when Simi questioned whether or not she had made the decision to leave the movies. “It’s evident that you’re shocked, perplexed, and of course hurt. You wonder about it,” she said after being taken away. “Did that experience change your perspective about how things work in Bollywood?” Simi continued.
Aishwarya mentioned, “You become more aware of what you’ve heard about, like in terms of…situations, people having an dominos effect on another people or another projects. It became obvious that it can happen to me too…with all your apparent box office success or ‘secure positioning’ in the industry.”
In conversation with Simi, Aishwarya spoke about whether she had confronted Shah Rukh, to which she answered, “It’s not in my nature to. If a person feels a need to explain it, they will. If they never did, they never intend to. So, it’s not in my nature to get into questioning what and why. Probably within myself, but I wouldn’t go up to a person and ask why. By the grace of God, I’m not defined by the other.”
In 2003, Shah Rukh in conversation with India Today, “To start a project with someone and then change her for no fault of hers is very difficult. It is very sad as Ash is a good friend. Personally I think I did wrong. But as a producer it made sense. I apologised to Ash.”
Shah Rukh and Aishwarya last appeared together in Karan Johar’s 2016 film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Aishwarya’s subsequent film appearance will be in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: 2. Shah Rukh, who was last saw in Pathaan, is getting ready for the release of Jawan.
