Om Shanti Om proved to be a pivotal film in the careers of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan. Though the film achieved great success, it also gave them stress, especially while casting the villain.
In an old interview with Shemaroo, the director revealed how Shah Rukh Khan helped him cast Arjun Rampal to play the villain in the film. Read on!
Farah Khan sang Om Shanti Om to Arjun Rampal in Shah Rukh Khan’s bathroom
Speaking to Komal Nahta about casting Arjun Rampal for her 2007 film Om Shanti Om, Farah Khan said, “Yeh humari majboori bhi thi.” The filmmaker added that the Crack actor was cast at the last minute after all the other heroes refused to do the role.
When asked why she wanted the antagonist to be an acclaimed hero like Arjun, she reasoned that since Deepika Padukone’s character is for someone other than Shah Rukh Khan, the hero should be someone who is as good looking as the Pathan actor.
So, when the previous hero refused to do the role, he caught Rampal at Shah Rukh’s New Year party and told him the story from inside the bathroom. He said, “6th We were supposed to start shooting for that character in January, the set was ready. We were supposed to start shooting for that character on January 31, the set was ready.scheduled tribe “There was a party at Shah Rukh’s house that December night and we saw Arjun Rampal. We caught him, took him to Shah Rukh’s bathroom, closed the door and told him the story,” he laughed.
But despite their efforts, Arjun refused to do the role, saying it was too villainous. But the young actor called them back again and convinced them. Finally, two days before his costume was to be prepared, the actor was finalised to play the role of Mukesh Mehra.
Farah Khan opens up about casting Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om
This film is Deepika Padukone’s Hindi debut. In the same interview, Farah told that when she saw Deepika in an advertisement, she felt that this actress would be successful. When Deepika came to Khan’s house, she was wearing a simple salwar kameez.
At that time, the filmmaker was working on Happy New Year. But after that film got shelved, DP was cast opposite Shah Rukh in Om Shanti Om.