Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was once in the running for the lead female role in Yash Chopra’s 1993 film ‘Darr’, which later went to Juhi Chawla. Costume designer Neeta Lulla revealed that Aishwarya had done look tests for the film before her Miss World journey changed the plan. The role finally went to Juhi, while Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol starred in the thriller that became one of Hindi cinema’s most discussed films.
Aishwarya Rai’s ‘Darr’ look test
Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Neeta Lulla revealed that Aishwarya Rai was once considered for ‘Darr’. The fashion designer spoke about the casting detail during an interview with Bollywood Hungama. She said she first meet Aishwarya in Yash Chopra’s office, where the filmmaker was considering her for ‘Darr’.Lulla said, “I met Aishwarya for the first time in late Yash (Chopra) ji’s office, where he was contemplating casting her for Darr.”She added, “I don’t think many people know this. So we did a look test of sorts and he called me and said let’s do a look test with her. When I saw her, Yash ji and I discussed and we said she’s beautiful. But he said maybe it won’t work out because she is going for the Miss World Pageant and she went away and that happened.”Aishwarya later won Miss World in 1994. Her film career began soon after, and she went on to work in several major titles across Hindi and Tamil cinema.
Neeta Lulla on working with Aishwarya Rai
After ‘Darr’, Aishwarya made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Iruvar’ in 1997. She later appeared in films such as ‘Jeans’, ‘Aa Ab Laut Chalen’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Taal’ and ‘Devdas’.Neeta Lulla later designed Aishwarya’s costumes for Shankar’s ‘Jeans’. The film became one of Aishwarya’s early big-screen projects and featured her in elaborate looks.The designer said Aishwarya had asked her to design the whole film for her. Lulla enjoyed working on the large-scale project and felt proud of the costumes she created for ‘Jeans’.The casting note adds another chapter to Aishwarya’s early career, before she became one of Indian cinema’s most recognized actors.