Not Amrita Rao, but THIS actress was the first choice in Farah Khan's 'Main Hoon Na': ‘We had initially finalised...'

Bollywood filmmaker Farah Khan recently visited Amrita Rao's house for her YouTube vlog. During the vlog, Farah revealed that Ayesha Takia was originally selected for the ''Main Hoon Na'' before Amrita, but she turned down the role for Imtiaz Ali's film.

Farah Khan on why Ayesha Takia stepped away from "Main Hoon Na"?

In her recent vlog, Farah recalled how just two weeks before the film was to begin shooting, Ayesha Takia, who was originally cast as Sanjana Bakshi, opted out of the project. "Two weeks before the shoot, the heroine was not there and the shoot was confirmed," Farah said. "We had booked St. Paul's, Darjeeling, and everyone was there." We had initially finalised Ayesha Takia, but she went to work on Imtiaz Ali's film and stayed on set for two months despite saying it was a 60-day shoot. There were two weeks left, and I called her to say her costumes and everything else weren't done yet, and she said, "I can't come, Imtiaz sir is still shooting."

Farah then spoke about how Amrita became a part of ''Main Hoon Na', saying, "Then Gauri Khan told me, 'Look at this girl (Amrita), she didn't match my character at all.' Because she was wearing this kurta. I gave her the main scene where she cries. And Amrita's point is, if you look at her on camera, she's on fire, but if you look at her normally, she's fine." And that's the quality Sridevi had."

Amrita finally got the role of Sanjana opposite Zayed Khan in "Main Hoon Na." Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Sushmita Sen, the film was a huge box office success, grossing Rs 70.40 crore worldwide on a budget of Rs 25 crore. Ayesha, on the other hand, left "Main Hoon Na" and starred in Imtiaz Ali's "Socha Na Tha," Abhay Deol's debut film. However, the film didn't do well at the box office.

Amrita Rao's Bollywood career

Amrita made her acting debut in Ab Ke Baras (2002), for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut in 2003. Amrita was recently seen in Jolly LLB 3. Directed by Subhash Kapoor, this legal comedy-drama also starred Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, Saurabh Shukla, and Huma Qureshi. 

Also read: From Toxic to Ramayan: 5 upcoming Bollywood films set to dominate box office in 2026