cast in Mani Ratnam’s Alai Payuthey:
Mani Ratnam once wanted to make Alai Payuthey with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. The film was a huge hit in Tamil, starring R. Madhavan and Shalini. It was later remade in Hindi as Saathiya starring Rani Mukerji and Vivek Oberoi. However, the dream of having Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol together in this film never came true.
Mani Ratnam shared this story during a discussion at the G5A Retrospective. He explained that he had the idea of casting Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, and even spoke to them about it. Both of them liked the story. However, the director faced a challenge. He couldn’t figure out the ending of the film. Alai Payuthey has a story that keeps coming back to a specific day, where a wife goes missing after an accident. The husband searches for her, and the film revolves around that event. But at the time, Mani Ratnam didn’t have the final part of the story figured out.
Mani Ratnam further explained that it was while working on his 1998 film Dil Se with Shah Rukh Khan that he finally found the solution for Alai Payuthey’s ending. Once he finished Dil Se, he knew how to end Alai Payuthey. But by then, the opportunity to cast Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the film was gone.
In the same discussion, Mani Ratnam talked about the process of filmmaking. He said that every film goes through many changes during its creation. The director is never sure if they have gotten everything right, even after finishing the script. He said that even when filming begins, they are always looking for something more.
Alai Payuthey was a Tamil romantic musical about a couple who elope to get married. Their marriage faces challenges, and they struggle to keep it intact. Though the film didn’t feature Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, the performances by Madhavan and Shalini still made it magical.
The lesson here is that sometimes, even the best ideas need more time and patience to be fully realized. Though we never saw Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in Alai Payuthey, we will always remember the magic created by Madhavan and Shalini.
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