‘I Had to Destroy Aishwarya Rai’s Image’: Subhash Ghai on the Biggest Casting Challenge of Taal

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who is celebrating the 27th anniversary of his directorial ‘Taal’, has spoken up on the casting challenges for the film. The filmmaker has said that he told actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan that he will have to completely destroy her image in order to do justice to her part. Aishwarya arrived with an image that was firmly rooted in the world of glamour. But the filmmaker wasn't looking for a beauty queen for his film.

He wanted Mansi, a young woman from a small town whose talent, vulnerability and journey would eventually transform her life. Talking about the same, he said, “I told her that I need to destroy your image. But you will be doing no makeup in the first hour. She said, yes, ‘I will do whatever you say’. As a director, you have to think about your character”. While looking for an actress who could convincingly portray Mansi's dancing abilities, Subhash Ghai turned to the legendary choreographer Saroj Khan.

He asked her who, apart from Madhuri Dixit, could take on the role. The answer was Aishwarya. The filmmaker said, “Aishwarya ka jab naam aaya tha, wo cosmetic world se aayi thi. Toh 4-5 naam the, main ne Saroj ji se pucha, Madhuri ke alawa kisko le sakte hai (When Aishwarya's name came up, she had come from the cosmetic world. So there were 4-5 names, I asked Saroj ji, apart from Madhuri, who else can we take?) She said Aishwarya”. It was a risk, especially because Taal itself was an ambitious film.

The filmmaker was attempting to create a sweeping romantic musical without relying on established stars, choosing instead two relatively young actors, Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna, to carry the central love story. Subhash Ghai, however, was convinced that their relative freshness was precisely what the story needed. His decision to cast Akshaye came with a personal recommendation. Actor Vinod Khanna brought his son to Subhash Ghai and suggested him for the role. Subhash Ghai recently revealed that the ‘Taal 2’ script is nearly complete, he remains firm on one principle, Taal cannot be built around stars. He cast the actors they were and then built characters that allowed them to grow into something bigger.

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