Was advised to cast Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit with Shah Rukh Khan in Pardes: Subhash Ghai

Subhash Ghai reveals that he had planned a huge-budget film, Shikhar, with Shah Rukh and Jackie Shroff post Trimurti but they had to let go of it because the latter failed and producers backed out. As a result, Ghai thought of writing a “simple, non-ambitious story” and that’s how Pardes happened.

“The journey of Pardes was very interesting. It wasn’t supposed to be made. Shah Rukh and I were actually supposed to collaborate on Shikhar, a film with war in backdrop. Jackie Shroff was also signed for it. We had even done the mahurat for it. But Trimurti failed. And how the norm of the industry is that you are only known by your last hit or flop, so, people didn’t have faith in Shikhar.

“We had to drop it and then I decided to write a female-centric, grounded story, and that’s how Pardes happened. Then, I called up Shah Rukh and he immediately said yes though he was sad that Shikhar was shelved. Shah Rukh was very excited about Shikhar, but it was his desire to work with me in actor-director capacity that he said yes to Pardes,” Subhash Ghai says.

Despite pressure, Ghai was against casting Salman and Madhuri.

“There was immense pressure. My last film hadn’t worked so, distributors suggested that if I cast Salman and Madhuri alongside Shah Rukh, it would give a huge boost to the film. Both were stars. But I refused, simply because they would not have done justice to my characters. Rajiv was an NRI, so there needed to be a certain mystery about him. It had to be someone unknown and hence I decided to cast a newcomer. That’s how we chose Apurva.

“For Ganga, they wanted Madhuri, who had worked with us many films. She was, in fact, a Mukta Arts heroine. Madhuri had even liked the script and wanted to do it but I knew the character of Ganga demanded a non-familiar face, an innocence never seen before. An established face wouldn’t have given me that. That’s how Mahima happened, and I am glad both of my choices paid off.”

Shah Rukh thought Pardes would harm his image of romantic hero.

Though the superstar agreed to be a part of the film, Subhash Ghai reveals that it wasn’t a comfortable time for both of them on the set because Shah Rukh was not convinced about playing a matchmaker.

“He kept saying that the film would flop and would harm his romantic-hero image, which he had got with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. In Pardes, Shah Rukh didn’t have many romantic scenes, at least nothing of what he had done before. Here, he was required to internalise his feelings because he was shown to be in love with his brother’s fiancee. I told him, ‘You can’t do your signature romance, your character is in denial till the end and you have to play it like that.’ He would say, ‘Subhashji, I am not happy, I am doing a non-romantic role’,” the filmmaker says.

Ghai recalls that he and Shah Rukh had arguments not just about his character, but also on what the character would wear.

“Shah Rukh wanted to wear jeans but I told him to wear pants because his character is not rich, he works in a garage and would not dress up in branded jeans. And Shah Rukh is extremely expressive, so, if he would not like something he would tell me. He is like a kid, so, he would sulk and then I would pamper him. That’s how we used to be on the set! But despite all this, he gave his best to the film, trusting my conviction.”