Farah Khan’s directorial film Main Hoon Na was a major blockbuster. In this movie, Shah Rukh Khan played the role of an army major, while Sushmita Sen portrayed a graceful and charming teacher. The film also featured Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan as one of the central pairs. The song “Chale Jaise Hawaayein” picturized on Amrita Rao remains popular even today. Recently, Farah Khan revealed an interesting detail about the casting of the film. She said that before Amrita was finalized, the role had been offered to actress Ayesha Takia. However, Ayesha declined the project. Farah shared this during a visit to Amrita Rao’s home for her YouTube show, where both of them reminisced about the making of Main Hoon Na.
Revealing further, Farah Khan said, “Just two weeks before the shoot began, the heroine backed out of the film. The shooting schedule was already confirmed, yet we had no finalized actress only two weeks prior. We had booked St. Paul’s School in Darjeeling and the entire team had already arrived there. We had initially signed Ayesha Takia, but she continued shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s film. When I called her to finalize costumes, she said she couldn’t join us because Imtiaz Sir’s shoot had not been completed.” This situation put the team in difficulty with the shoot approaching fast and no lead actress confirmed.
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How did Amrita Rao come on board? Farah continued, “At that time, Gauri Khan suggested that I should consider Amrita. She showed me her picture, but I wasn’t sure if she fit the character because she was wearing a simple kurta in the photo. I still gave her a crucial emotional scene to perform. Amrita transforms completely in front of the camera—she becomes expressive and impactful, while off-camera she is quiet and calm. Sridevi had a similar quality.” Main Hoon Na proved to be a significant milestone in Amrita Rao’s career, and she is still remembered for her role as Sanjana Bakshi.