MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan is known as the king of romance in Bollywood. The actor has given several blockbuster films and made a mark as a superstar in the film industry. One of his iconic films, which won 5 national awards, was rejected by 5 actors and later was a big hit.

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The film is known to be one of the most expensive movies of 2002 and also starred two of the top Bollywood actresses, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit. Yes, you guessed it right, it is Devdas.  

Devdas was helmed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and alone Rs 20 crore was spent on the making of the set. The most expensive set was that of Chandramukhi’s kotha which cost around Rs 12 crore. Other than this, Madhuri Dixit’s green lehenga was also one of the most expensive costumes costing Rs 15 lakh. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had a wardrobe of over 600 sarees. The film’s total budget amounted to Rs 50 crore which also put producer Bharat Shah in trouble.

A part of Devdas’ set caught fire and producer Bharat Shah was arrested for alleged dealings with the underworld and had to reportedly spend 15 months in Jail. Sanjay Leela Bhansali was told to shut the film as it was ‘jinxed’. He revealed that in an interview and said, “People said this film is jinxed, this film brings bad vibes, you should shut down this film, this will be in losses. The set caught fire, and Bharat bhai (producer Bharat Shah) was also in trouble, I was in a problem, and Shah Rukh Khan was in a problem. We were all suffering.” 

Not only this, The film was also rejected by 8 actors. Before Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was keen on Salman Khan playing the role of Devdas, however, he rejected the offer. Jackie Shroff’s role of Chunni Laal was first offered to Govinda, Saif Ali Khan, and Manoj Bajpayee, however, all of them rejected the role. Madhuri Dixit who played the role of Chandramukhi in the film was also not the first choice of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The role was first offered to Sushmita Sen who reportedly rejected it due to her work commitments. 

The film, however, was a major hit and collected Rs 90.63 crore worldwide. The film also won 5 National Awards: Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Best Playback Singer – Female (Ghoshal), Best Production Design (Desai), Best Costume Design (Lulla, Jani, Khosla, Shariffi) and Best Choreography (Saroj Khan).

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Based on the 1917 novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the romantic drama was helmed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bharat Shah. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit in lead roles, with Jackie Shroff, Kirron Kher, Smita Jaykar, and Vijayendra Ghatge in supporting roles.

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Credits - DNA