Aamir Khan was paid more than double of what Shah Rukh Khan quoted for beverage brand, was the ‘perfect boy next door’ with Aishwarya Rai

Also Read: Sushmita Sen was ‘weeping copiously in a corner’ during Miss India, was certain Aishwarya Rai would win, recalls Prahlad Kakkar: ‘She said it’s fixed’

Aamir, Mahima and Aishwarya in old Pepsi ad
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Revealing how Aishwarya was cast for the ad film, he shared, “We were looking all over and I wasn’t happy with anybody, and then some girls found her wth a jhola and torn jeans outside an architecture college, she was studying there. They brought her to my office, and what actually made me pause were her eyes. When I looked into them, I saw the entire universe. With each mood, the color of her eyes changed, which mesmerised me. Aishwarya was all over the place, but the camera loved her. By then, we had already cast Aamir.”

Prahlad also went on to share the interesting story behind choosing Aamir over Shah Rukh Khan. He said, “Aamir was the perfect boy next door, and that was a copy of an American film. So we had to be very sensitive about our casting. I needed a boy who looked vulnerable and not cocky. That time, SRK was in the running for Aamir’s role, when Pepsi had approached him, by then he had just made it, and was looking for a house. He was short of Rs 6 lakh. When they asked him how much he would charge, he said Rs 6 lakh. When we recommended Aamir, he was more shy than Shah Rukh. Aamir wanted Rs 16 lakhs, and Pepsi said, ‘Let’s take SRK’ because he was coming at a lower price. I took a stand, and we got Aamir.”