Was Manushi Chhillar Aamir Khan's first choice for Laal Singh Chaddha before Kareena Kapoor?

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Aamir Khan recently appeared as  guests on the latest episode of Koffee with Karan, where Aamir revealed that Kareena was not the first choice to play the female lead in Laal Singh Chaddha.Aamir recalled watching an advertisement with director Advait Chandan, after a casting director told them that it featured a ‘newbie’ to look out for. Aamir said, “We were looking at the video for someone else. Advait and I were watching and that girl was also very good; but when we saw Kareena in that, we were lost in Kareena. Both of us looked at each other and we said (it has to be) Kareena.”

Now the buzz is the ‘newbie’ was none other than former Miss World Manushi Chhillar, who made her acting debut in the recent Samrat Prithviraj. In 2018, Kareena and Manushi did an ad together. Interestingly, the ad is produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.Talking about the casting process, Aamir said that they were looking at actors in their mid-20s. Although he revealed that their perception changed once they saw Kareena in action. “ We didn’t think of her (Kareena) originally because we thought of casting someone who was 25. We were stuck in that 25, which was a stupid thing. She too can get de-aging with me and whatever is required and I’m so glad we saw that ad because I cannot imagine anyone else in this role other than Kareena.” Laal Singh Chaddha also stars Kareena Kapoor and has Aamir in the role of a simple, kind man, played originally by Tom Hanks in Robert Zemeckis' 1994 film. Produced by Aamir Khan Productions, Kiran Rao, and Viacom18 Studios, Laal Singh Chaddha also stars Mona Singh and Chaitanya Akkineni.