“Surprising Fact: Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan Shared ‘Om Shanti Om’ Script with Arjun Rampal in the Bathroom”
Om Shanti Om proved to be an important film in the career of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan. While the movie ended up being a massive success, it also gave her stress especially while casting the villain.
In an old interview with Shemaroo, the director revealed how Shah Rukh Khan helped her cast Arjun Rampal to play the antagonist in the movie. Read on!
Farah Khan narrated Om Shanti Om to Arjun Rampal inside Shah Rukh Khan’s bathroom
While talking to Komal Nahta about the casting of Arjun Rampal for her 2007 movie Om Shanti Om, Farah Khan stated “Ye humari majboori bhi thi.” The filmmaker added that the Crakk actor was cast last-minute because all the other heroes had denied doing the role.
When quizzed why she wanted the antagonist to be an acclaimed hero like Arjun, she reasoned that since Deepika Padukone’s character was dumping Shah Rukh Khan for someone, he had to be a hero who was as good-looking as the Pathaan actor.
Hence, when the last hero said no to the role, they caught Rampal at SRK’s New Year’s Eve party and narrated the story inside his bathroom. She shared, “6th of January we were going to start shooting that character, the set was ready. On 31st night (December), there was a party at Shah Rukh’s house and we saw Arjun Rampal. We caught him, took him to Shah Rukh’s bathroom, locked the door, and narrated the story to him,” she laughed.
But despite their efforts, Arjun said no to doing the character stating that it’s too villainous. But the Jawan actor again called him back and convinced him. Finally, two days before they were doing his costume, the actor was finalized to play the role of Mukesh Mehra.
Farah Khan opens up about casting Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om
The movie marks the Hindi debut of Deepika Padukone. In the same interview, Farah stated that when she saw DP in an advertisement, she knew the actress would become successful. When Deepika came to Khan’s house, she was dressed in a simple salwar kameez.
At that time, the filmmaker was working on Happy New Year. But since that film was pushed, DP was cast opposite SRK in Om Shanti Om.
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