King Khan and the queen-sized beauty of Bollywood sizzled on screen every time they paired up together. Whether in Mohabbatein or Devdas, SRK and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan always managed to have the audiences glued with their fiery chemistry. The A-list Bollywood couple was so much in demand back in the day, that they had signed a trail of at least five films together. However, as things started heating up between them, it was found that Aishwarya had dropped out from all the films.
According to media reports, it all started when Ash’s ex Salman Khan created a drunken mess on the sets of Shah Rukh Khan’s production, Chalte Chalte. SRK certainly did not take this token of love very kindly, and soon came to replace Aishwarya with Rani Mukerji. It is said that she lost out on a bunch of other films with Shah Rukh for the very same reason, including the blockbuster Veer Zeera.
When asked what led to her ouster, Aishwarya opening up about it in the past replied:
“How can I have the answer to that? Yes, at the time, there was talk of a couple of films that we would be working in together. And then, suddenly they weren’t happening, without any explanation whatsoever. I have never had the answer to why.“
Shah Rukh had told India Today in an interview in 2003, “To start a project with someone and then change her for no fault of hers is very difficult. It is very sad as Ash is a good friend. Personally, I think I did wrong. But as a producer it made sense. I apologized to Ash.“
However, according to Ash, at the time of her removal, she was not given an explanation whatsoever. She told Simi Garewal, “At the time, when you have no explanation, you obviously are taken aback, confused and of course, hurt. You wonder about it. “
Aishwarya added that though she was upset, she never inquired Khan about his reasons. “It’s not in my nature. I think if a person wants to explain it, they will do it on their own. If they never did, they never intended to. I would probably question within myself but I wouldn’t go up to a person and ask why” she said.
Aishwarya and Shah Rukh eventually put this rough phase behind them. After not working together for over a decade, the two briefly united on screen in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, where SRK was pulled in for a cameo appearance as Aishwarya’s ex-husband.
