Despite her limited screen time, Sushmita Sen made a huge impact with her performance in 'Main Hoon Na'.
"... from that response, I knew something had changed. The role hadn't changed, but the impact had. The role was still as small as it was, but it was powerful enough." - Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen in 'Main Hoon Naa' was like an angel straight out of a fairytale. Those gorgeous chiffon sarees, the beats of "dhum ta na dhum ta na" in the background, and she walks in slow motion with her hair flowing freely – aah! Miss Chandni left all of us awestruck, and how! And more than her appearance, it's her aura that pulls us into her world. Well, it's been 20 years since 'Main Hoon Na' happened, and we still can't get enough of her.
SRK and Sushmita Sen in a still from ‘Main Hoon Na’
'Main Hoon Na' was the career-defining film for Sen. And despite her limited screen time, she managed to make a huge impact with her performance, and emerged as a sensation. The audience was in complete awe of her, and it became such a rage that the makers had to bring the initial posters (featuring SRK, Zayed Khan, and Amrita Rao) down and put up new ones featuring her.
(Credit: Netflix India)
However, did you know Sen wasn't the first choice for the role of Miss Chandni? Yes, you read that right! Today, as the film completes 20 years of its release, we delve deep into that in this article.
According to several reports, director Farah Khan initially wanted Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to play the role of Chandni. However, the actress turned it down for some unknown reasons, and it eventually went to Sushmita Sen.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
It's quite interesting that previously, in the year 1994, Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai had competed in the Miss India pageant. Sen won the pageant and went on to win the Miss Universe title, while Aishwarya Rai came as the first runner-up and went on to bag the Miss World title that year.
'Main Hoon Na' was the game-changer in Sen's career, and the actress has time and again acknowledged it. During an interview last year, she spoke about the film and the acclaim she had received after its release.
(Credit: Netflix India)
In her words, "Farah Khan called, my director, and said, 'Sush, I have seen the final edit and I have to apologize to you. Shah Rukh of course has the role, Zayed and Amrita have a role, but you are barely there'. So I was like, 'That is okay Farah, we had a deal, you kept through the promise, and I kept through it. It is done, now don't worry about it'. But inside I was thinking, 'Oh no, I am barely there!' The (Main Hoon Na) screening happened at Film City. My phone starts ringing. And I don't know why Yash ji (Yash Chopra) is calling me, the whole gamut of the industry is calling. So ab darr darr ke (scared) I pick up the phone."
(Credit: T-Series)
"From the response, I knew something had changed. The role had not changed, the impact had. The role was still as small as it was, but it was powerful enough. The reaction of the audience was so intense that the first posters of Main Hoon Na all over Bombay had Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao, and Shah Rukh and Shah Rukh alone. By Saturday, after the film had released, there was Shah Rukh and me on every poster. That is the power of people and audience, and I have huge respect for that... the audiences were like 'We want her, we want to see her up there with him (Shah Rukh)'. Farah called me and said 'All the posters were being brought down and new ones are being put up. You better go for a drive today'. And I did.”
