Producer Suneel Darshan revealed that the role of Sonia in Aitraaz was first offered to Kareena Kapoor. After she declined, Priyanka Chopra took up the part.
Abbas-Mustan’s Aitraaz (2004) is considered as a major turning point in Priyanka Chopra’s career where the actress earned critical acclaim and won several awards including Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role for her portrayal of Sonia Roy. But do you know that this role was first offered to Kareena Kapoor Khan?
Yes, you heard that right. Bebo was initially considered to play Sonia in Aitraaz. However, the actress refused to play the morally grey character and chose to do the other role (Priya).
Producer Suneel Darshan, in a recent conversation with Bollywood Bubble made this revelation.
He stated, “There are times when actors miscalculate. At that time, a negative role was still viewed as something like a vamp. And the fact that Priyanka was cast alongside Amrish Puri as his wife, so it felt more like a Shashikala-type role. You know, like the ones Shashikala or Bindu used to play in older films. But with time, narratives change, and so do perspectives. And I thought to myself, my God, Bebo (Kareena) made such a big mistake.”
Darshan continued, “But Bebo is Bebo. She always wanted to glide through everything easily. She lost out on that role because she chose not to do it. She picked the heroine’s part opposite the hero. She could have taken Priyanka’s role, too, but she didn’t.”
The producer praised Priyanka Chopra for taking up the bold role in this Akshay Kumar-starrer and said, “Priyanka was at a stage where she was on the rise. She was the go-getter. Whatever she wanted, she went after and got it. And that role justified something that wasn’t considered normal, it made you believe in it.”
Aitraaz follows the story of a man who is falsely accused of sexual harassment by his ex-lover and now his boss’s wife, and how he fights to prove his innocence.
