Directed by Rakesh Roshan, Karan Arjun was one of the biggest hits of 1995. The movie starred Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan in key roles and marked their first on-screen collaboration. As the movie clocks 29 years, the drama is all set to re-release in theatres. The news got fans talking as they took to social media to express their joy. But did you know that Rakesh had approached a different actor for the role of Karan which was later on played by Salman Khan?
In an interview dating back to 2020, Rakesh Roshan mentioned that his first choice for Karan Arjun was Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn. He wanted Shah Rukh to essay the role of Arjun and Ajay to play Karan. But the actors wanted to switch and play the other characters. He said, “The original choice of actors was Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn. But they were not happy with their respective parts and wanted to switch. So Shah Rukh wanted to play Karan while Ajay desired to essay Arjun. However, I refused to do so. Hence, they both backed out of the film.”
After Shah Rukh and Ajay, Rakesh approached Aamir Khan and Salman Khan. While both of them loved the script, Aamir was busy with another movie. Rakesh revealed that Shah Rukh came back to him and said that he wanted to do the film. That’s how he cast Shah Rukh and Salman. He continued, “I, then, approached Salman Khan and Aamir Khan and both jumped at the script. However, Aamir made it clear that he was shooting some movie at that point and that he could start only six months later. But I couldn’t have waited for so long. Meanwhile, Shah Rukh found out that Salman and Aamir have shown interest. This is when he came back to me.”
Rakesh said, “He said sorry and insisted that he wants to do the film. And his dates were available. So, I went to Aamir and explained the situation. Also, I had worked with Shah Rukh before – you can say that I gave him a break in King Uncle. Aamir understood and this is how the male lead actors of the film were locked.”
Karan Arjun follows the story of two brothers who are killed along with their father by their greedy uncle. The brothers are reborn and they set out to seek revenge. Apart from Shah Rukh and Salman, the movie also starred Amrish Puri, Raakhee, Kajol, and Mamta Kulkarni in key roles.