Sanjay Leela Bhansali Wanted Kajol In Khamoshi With Salman Khan; Manisha Koirala Was Third Choice

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s directorial debut Khamoshi hit theatres in 1996 and starred Salman Khan with Manisha Koirala in the lead. However, do you know that Manisha was not the first choice for the film? An old video of Bhansali has surfaced on social media in which he talked about approaching Kajol before Manisha. Sanjay revealed that even though Kajol was asked for Khamoshi, she refused to do it because of her mother Tanuja’s equation with him.

“I did approach Madhuri for it but I had approached Kajol for it. There was a strong exchange between Tanuja ji and me on the phone as far as dates were concerned. Phones banged out. Maybe Tanuja ji and I did not get along very well. I sensed, I said, ‘Okay, forget about it’. The second time, I tried because I really think she is a fabulous actress and she would have done this role beautifully but she did not want to do it," Sanjay Leela Bhansali said. Watch the video here:

Reportedly, Sanjay Leela Bhansali also wanted to cast Madhuri Dixit for the role of Annie in Khamoshi. However, she declined the offer. Previously, several reports claimed that Madhuri did not find the story to be interesting, whereas others claimed that she had date issues.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is currently enjoying the success of his recently released web show, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Bhansali’s OTT debut Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Farida Jalal, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar Suman, Jason Shah and Adhyayan Suman in key roles. It explores the various aspects of a woman’s trials and tribulations.

Recently, Bhansali talked about the success of Heeramandi and urged everyone to binge-watch his show again. “Normally, people don’t watch a series twice. But I want them to watch all the episodes again. If there’s a repeat binge-watch, it’ll be a big thing for me," he told Hindustan Times.

“I’m glad that there’s a lot of discussion among people, irrespective of where they’re watching Heeramandi. They’re asking each other if there’s a big screen at their home. Those watching it on their phone are wondering whether they should go for a bigger screen," the director added.