After making a dream debut in Pardes, Mahima Chaudhry was replaced in Ram Gopal Varma-directed gangster drama Satya two days before shoot without any intimation.
From Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om to Anushka Sharma in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, several actresses have made their Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan. We are talking about one such actress, whose first Hindi film was a musical romantic drama opposite King Khan in 1997.
Before beginning her Bollywood in Subhash Ghai's Pardes, Ritu Chaudhry changed her name to Mahima Chaudhry upo Ghai's recommendation who believed the letter 'M' to be lucky for her leading actresses - Meenakshi Seshadri, Manisha Koirala, and Madhuri Dixit.
Released in 1997, Pardes was one of the most successful films. Apart from the leading pair of Shah Rukh and Mahima, it also starred Apurva Agnihotri, Amrish Puri, Alok Nath, Padmavati Rao, and Dina Pathak in the supporting roles. After her dream debut, Mahima was approached by Ram Gopal Varma for his 1998 film Satya and she had even announced in her interviews about the same, but she was replaced by Urmila Matondkar two days before the shoot began.
Mahima recalled in an interview that she felt 'humiliated and insulted' after RGV replaced her without even informing her. The actress told Bollywood Bubble in 2021, "When I was doing Pardes I was offered Satya. Mr Ram Gopal Varma was doing dubbing for his film and he met me and said I am doing this very small film which I have to wrap quickly. It’s about a gangster and there’s no part for a girl. And I heard the story while we used to sit for tea and I was like very good I want to do this."
"Mr. Ghai actually told me, ‘Itni badi picture ke baad tum ek choti si picture karogi isiliye maine tumhe launch kiya tha? (After doing such a big film, you will do such a small film, did I launch you for this?)' I was like, ‘No no no. It’s a very nice film’. So I agreed to do Satya. My manager did the formalities. Even in my interviews, I told everyone I am doing Satya. It’s my next film", she further added.
"I was supposed to start the shoot in two days but they already started the shoot one day earlier with another actor who was in all his productions. And he didn’t even think it was important to call me or my manager that he changed his mind. And I had to hear it from the press. And that time the press can be very mean and they said, ‘Ohh you have been thrown out.’ And I was like yeah. I was humiliated and insulted. I took it badly", Mahima concluded.
Also starring Manoj Bajpayee, J. D. Chakravarthy, and Shefali Shah among others, Satya went on to become a cult classic and since then, all the gangster dramas made in India are said to be influenced by the Ram Gopal Varma film. Mahima starred in several films later including Dil Kya Kare, Daag: The Fire, Lajja, and Dhadkan among others but none could match the success of Pardes.
The actress is now awaiting the comeback to the mainstream cinema with the political drama Emergency, in which she portrays the influential cultural activist and writer Pupul Jayakar. Headlined and helmed by Kangana Ranaut, the film will release this year.
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 "Screengrab of actress's debut film opposite Shah Rukh Khan")
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