Aishwarya Rai on rejecting Kuch Kuch Hota Hai: I would have been lynched (Throwback)

We can't imagine Kuch Kuch Hota Hai without Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji. But very few know that Rani Mukerji was not the first choice to play 'Tina'. Karan Johar had offered the role to several top actresses, but when everyone rejected the role, K Jo took it to Rani Mukerji. And the rest, as they say, is history.

From Twinkle Khanna to Aishwarya Rai, Karan had taken the script to many A –list actresses. Talking about why she rejected the role of Tina, Aishwarya had said in a Filmfare interview in 1999, "I'm in a catch-22 situation really. Though I'm a newcomer, I'm compared with all the senior actresses."

"So if I'd done the film, it would have been tittered that, 'Look, Aishwarya Rai is back to doing what she did in her modelling days—leaving her hair straight, wearing minis, and pouting glamorously into the camera.' Ultimately, the hero goes back to the more real person. I know if I'd done Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I would have been lynched," she added.

Talking about how the beauty of some actresses didn't work in their favour, Aishwarya had said, "Look, I can't fight the looks I've been born with. If I'm blessed with good looks, so be it. But for Pete's sake, don't knock my hard work, my professionalism. I'm only three-films-old. I haven't given any of my directors any reason to complain."

Well, in a way, we are glad that Aishwarya Rai rejected the part which went to a relatively new Rani Mukerji back then. Otherwise, without KKHH, we would have lost out on another gem from the industry – Rani Mukerji.