Sonam, in a new interview, revealed that she was supposed to make her Hindi debut with Feroz Khan’s Yalgaar. She also talked about how the late actor-filmmaker had refused to cast her in Dayavan.
Most of you would still remember Sonam for her chartbuster song ‘Tirchi Topiwala’ (Vishwatma) in which she shook a leg with Naseeruddin Shah. Best known for films like Tridev (1989) and Vishwatma (1992), the actress made her acting debut with Yash Chopra’s Vijay in 1988.
However, her career was short-lived as she soon quit the film industry after tying the knot with director Rajiv Rai. Now, the actress is looking forward to make a comeback after three decades.
Recently, in an interview with Rediff, Sonam reflected upon her career and opened up about how she landed her first break in Bollywood.
The actress shared that she was initially supposed to make her Bollywood debut with Feroz Khan’s Yalgaar. However, the actor-filmmaker decided to keep that movie on hold and make Dayavan first. However, he refused to cast her in that film.
According to Sonam, Khan felt that she was too young to play Vinod Khanna’s wife (the role was eventually played by Madhuri Dixit). He also didn’t want cast her in the daughter’s role because he felt that she might get typecast.
Amala told the portal, “I did a photoshoot and took those pictures to Feroz Khansaab. He liked them and took my screen test. I was supposed to do my first film with him; it was called Yalgaar. But for some reason, he wanted to do Dayavan and he told me that I cannot play Vinod Khanna’s wife because I was too young. He did not want to cast me in the daughter’s role because I would get typecast.”
She continued, “Amala was an established star in the south, so it would not make any difference for her. But for a newcomer like me, if I was introduced as a sister, I would be playing a sister all my life.”
The actress revealed that following this incident, she once bumped into Rishi Kapoor when she went to meet a filmmaker. The Karz star advised her to get in touch with Yash Chopra.
Sonam recalled, “So I took the same screen test to Yashji and he immediately signed me on. He said it was a huge multi-starrer, and that I will not have a big role in the film.” That film was Vijay.
The Ajooba actress said that the industry people started clamouring up to sign her because she was being launched by Yash Chopra, and she ended up signing 20 films in about six months.
Sonam further added that she owes her career to Rishi Kapoor.
