‘Aishwarya Rai’s lookalike Sneha Ullal was recommended by Salman Khan’s sister Arpita’: Directors deny there was any ulterior motive

Filmmakers Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, who worked with Salman Khan on the film Lucky: No Time for Love, opened up about casting Sneha Ullal.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | May 14, 2025 12:15 PM IST

3 min read

Sneha Ullal has often spoken about how comparisons to Aishwarya Rai affected her career.

Filmmakers Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, who worked with Salman Khan on the film Lucky: No Time for Love, recalled how newcomer Sneha Ullal was cast in the film. At the time, comparisons were made between Sneha and actor Aishwarya Rai. These comparisons hounded Sneha for the remainder of her short-lived career in the film industry. In an interview, the filmmakers said that it wasn’t a conscious decision to cast someone who looks like Aishwarya in the film. Salman and Aishwarya were rumoured to have dated just before the film’s release.

In an interview with Hindi Rush, the filmmakers were asked about Sneha’s uncanny resemblance to Aishwarya, and if casting her was deliberate strategy. They said, “It wasn’t a strategy. We wanted to cast a newcomer, and Arpita (Khan, Salman’s sister) said that there is a very pretty girl at her college, and asked if we’d want to audition her. The role was of a schoolgirl whose parents are working in an embassy. She needed to have the vibe of someone who has lived in Europe. She suited the role.”

Also read – ‘Vodka never stopped flowing at Salman Khan’s party, Russians were rolling down stairs; Bhai was rock-solid’: Radhika Rao, Vinay Sapru recall epic bash

They said that they realised how the narrative was shaping up gradually, but emphasised that they cannot compare anyone to someone as beautiful as Aishwarya. Radhika added, “We would notice a resemblance sometimes while shooting, but there are so many people who look like others. We never thought that the similarity was all that striking, but when the campaign started and people started pointing it out, that’s when we noticed. It would be a lie to say that we didn’t think about it, but we it wasn’t a big deal. It’s a good thing to be compared to Aishwarya!”

In the past, Sneha has said that the narrative around her appearance was spun by publicists. “I am so comfortable in my own skin and all those comparisons didn’t bother me. Also, that was also their PR strategy on how to describe me. That thing actually emphasised the entire comparison. Otherwise, it may not have been such a big deal,” she claimed in an interview with agency IANS.

Incidentally, another actor launched in a Salman Khan film had to contend with comparisons to someone he was said to have dated and broken up with. Actor Zarine Khan has been fielding comparisons to Katrina Kaif for years. Appearing on Bharti Singh’s podcast, Zarine said last year, “Life after Veer was very bad for me, I got a lot of criticism. The film was a life-changing moment for me. Initially, I felt very happy that I was being compared to Katrina Kaif, but within the industry, things kept getting worse. For me, who used to be overweight, being compared to Katrina was huge, but it all backfired. I felt like a lost child in the industry, plus there was hesitation. I didn’t know most people here but they started to feel I was arrogant because Salman Khan launched me.”

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