JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Did You Know Mani Ratnam planned a Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol film before Dil Se? Here's what went wrong
Mani Ratnam revealed he initially planned a Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol film before moving to Dil Se. Find out more about his shift in direction!
Mani Ratnam's 1998 classic Dil Se remains one of his most iconic films, still discussed and cherished by audiences today. The filmmaker recently revealed that his original plan was to create Alai Payuthey with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. However, he couldn't finalize the ‘last element’ of the film, which led him to shift gears and make Dil Se instead.
As per PTI, at the G5A Retrospective open forum, Mani Ratnam discussed his creative process and said, "I wanted to do Alai Payuthey with Shah Rukh and Kajol and I told him the story and he agreed. But I had not cracked the last element of the story. So, we shifted to Dil Se."
It was only after completing the film that the filmmaker found the missing piece of Alai Payuthey, though he had some reservations about revisiting the idea.
However, Mani Ratnam acknowledged that there's always a sense of uncertainty, even after finalizing a script. The creative process remains fluid, as one continues to search for more, even during the shoot.
For the unversed, Saathiya, the Hindi adaptation of Alai Payuthey, was directed by Shaad Ali.
In Dil Se, Manisha plays a female terrorist who is a suicide bomber. Shah Rukh Khan’s character ultimately gives up his life as she tries to ignite a bomb attached to herself. However, in an interview with ANI, she revealed that the film’s original ending was quite different from what audiences saw.
In the initial version, the theme of the film was more about the characters' causes than their love for each other, and SRK’s character was supposed to let her die. This was altered at the last moment. Manisha Koirala expressed her preference for the original ending, which, according to her, made the separation between the characters more poignant and underlined the impossibility of their union.
She felt the final version, which emphasized SRK’s sacrifice, shifted focus from the core theme of the film. For her, the original ending, where unrequited love was central, felt more impactful and resonant than a love story with a definitive conclusion.
ALSO READ: Did you know Shah Rukh Khan is behind Dil Se being Preity Zinta's debut movie? Here's how
Latest Articles
