Shah Rukh Khan about Aishwarya Rai's removal from Chalte Chalte: Sad that things didn't work out, bear no ill towards her (Throwback)

Aishwarya Rai's love interests not only helped her give some of the most memorable film performances but also made her lose out on several projects. Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai's love chapter saw all the highs and lows one can think of. While their film together will be remembered for being one of the greatest love stories, she did get thrown out of few projects because of Salman.

It was reported that Aishwarya Rai was the first choice for Chalte Chalte and had been roped in to play the lead role opposite Shah Rukh Khan. There was no doubt that the film would uplift her career furthermore but destiny had some other plans. While Shah Rukh and Aishwarya were shooting for a sequence, an angry and drunk Salman Khan allegedly approached the sets and asked Aishwarya to come with him. When she refused or asked him to wait, not only did he tamper with the sets but also forced her to come with him. And when Shah Rukh tried to intervene, he was manhandled too.

Shah Rukh Khan's take on the issue

While Aishwarya also spoke about it later and how she was removed from several of Shah Rukh's movies after the episode, without being informed, Shah Rukh later apologised to Aishwarya. A Cosmopolitan report quoted him as saying, "It's sad that things didn't work out with Ash in Chalte Chalte. But believe me, I bear no ill will towards her. I feel very proud of the fact that when you go to London, France, Germany, the only two Indian names people recognise are Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan has been there for so many years and he's wonderful. But Aishwarya Rai is our contemporary, younger than many of us. She's perhaps done less work than me and to still be the international face of Indian cinema is great."

Though Shah Rukh and Aishwarya now share a cordial equation, we would have loved to see Aishwarya opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Chalte Chalte.