‘Aamir found me very intelligent’: How Ameesha Patel replaced Aishwarya Rai in Mangal Pandey

When Ameesha was dropped from Lagaan

She added that their association dated back even earlier, when she had auditioned for Lagaan and was almost finalised for the film.

“Even before this, Aamir and I had met several times because I had screen-tested for Lagaan and was selected, and I had also allotted dates for the film. And when I was shooting for Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai in New Zealand, my manager called me and said that I am being released from Lagaan because Ashutosh ji felt that for a village girl role, my eyes looked too educated, and I am also extremely fair-skinned.”

Ameesha explained that her personality didn’t align with what director Ashutosh Gowariker envisioned for the role.

“So maybe the village belle they wanted wouldn’t come across because my personality is very educated. And because of that, I was selected for Gadar, because Sakeena’s character was a timid, educated, politically aware girl from a political background.”

ALSO READ: Ahaan Panday recalls ‘uncle’ Shah Rukh Khan looking after him as a child: ‘Incredibly generous’

Looking back, she noted the irony of how things could have turned out differently.

“The same body language for which I was selected for Gadar, Ashutosh ji felt I looked too educated to play a village girl. Otherwise, imagine, Lagaan and Gadar released on the same day, I would have been in both films. It would have been difficult to decide which film to cheer for.”

When Aishwarya addressed her exit from Mangal Pandey

Before Ameesha Patel stepped into Mangal Pandey: The Rising, the role was initially offered to Aishwarya. The actress was eventually replaced. Addressing the speculation, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan spoke about the situation in a 2004 interview.

When asked if she was replaced in the film, Aishwarya Rai replied, “What’s interesting is that you remember the words, like ‘replaced’, which you etched. The fact is, the situation was very different. And time and again, ever since that situation up until today, I have answered, that the producer, in fact, rendered me an apology, for the fact that he went out of line because of speaking the way that he did in the media, because of other pressures that he went through. There was a disagreement between him and my agents, and more than anything else, even up to the point of even pre-mahurat. So that was an entirely different situation. The producer apologised to me…”

What the producer had said

As per a 2003 report by The Telegraph, producer Bobby Bedi said, “We have dropped her (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) from the film (Mangal Pandey: The Rising) because she wanted to renegotiate the deal. She wanted to double her earlier fees after signing the agreement.”

The report further claimed that Aishwarya had initially signed the film for Rs 1.5 crore, while Aamir Khan was being paid Rs 7 crore. It also stated that the actress sought a fee hike on the advice of her Los Angeles-based agent, William Morris.

Following her exit, the role of Bengali widow Jwala was eventually played by Ameesha Patel in the film.