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Soha Ali Khan had no plans of becoming an actor until one day, actor-director Amol Palekar offered her a film that later became Paheli. What Soha did not realise at the time was that she was a newbie, and easily replaceable, and that’s exactly what happened when Rani Mukerji took over her spot, which left her in a strange position. In a recent interview, Soha shared how she lost an opportunity to work with Shah Rukh Khan in her debut film and how that shattered her dream of a powerful start in the movies.
In a chat with Mashable India, Soha was asked if Rani replaced her in her first film, and she said, “She did,” and recalled the events that left her without a job, and worrying how she would pay her Rs 17,000/month rent in Mumbai. “It was my first film. I quit Citibank. I had to pay Rs 17,000 as my rent. I was earning a good salary. And my plan was to leave for London. I was thinking that I will get a work permit there and I will eventually settle there. Then Amol Palekar came to me and he spoke to me about the script. I had been offered some films because of my brother (Saif Ali Khan) and my mother (Sharmila Tagore),” she shared.
Soha Ali Khan shared that while she had some interest in acting, she was definitely attracted to the exorbitant salaries that movie actors got. “I had some interest in acting and I was definitely interested in that pay cheque but I definitely underestimated what it took to become a film actor. I didn’t understand the skill set needed to act in the movies in those times,” she said.
Soha shared that Amol Palekar was a “credible and renowned filmmaker” and she actually liked the subject she was presented, and hence jumped on the project. ”He approached me and I said, ‘I definitely want to do this.’ He said, ‘Then you will have to quit your job because it will take a couple of months,’” she recalled and added that she quit her job soon afterwards. Amol was planning to launch a male actor in the film with her and they had both started reading the script. But they were yet to sign on the dotted line. “Back then, I didn’t understand that if you haven’t been signed, and if you haven’t shot, then it means that it’s not 100 percent. I didn’t know that so I quit my job,” she shared.
When Shah Rukh Khan came on board as the producer and the actor, Soha Ali Khan was let go from the project. “Amol ji called me and said, ‘Shah Rukh Khan is playing the role. I said, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ He said, ‘No, you don’t understand. That means you are not playing this role. Somebody else will be playing this.’ I was like, ‘Ouch’. Then I was like, ‘What do I do now? How do I pay my rent?’” she shared.
Soha then made her debut in a Bengali film called Iti Srikanta, where she starred alongside Adil Hussain.
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