• Subhash recalled the time when he encountered many difficulties while creating Pardes in a recent interview.
• Subhash recently disclosed that he originally read Madhuri Dixit the script for Pardes, and the actor even enjoyed it.
• But Mahima, a recent arrival, ended up landing the role.

Pardes, a movie by Subhash Ghai, turned 25 in August of this year. Shah Rukh Khan played the protagonist in the film that the director used to introduce Mahima Chaudhry. Subhash recalled the time when he encountered many difficulties while creating Pardes in a recent interview.

Subhash recently disclosed that he originally read Madhuri Dixit the script for Pardes, and the actor even enjoyed it. But Mahima, a recent arrival, ended up landing the role. In a recent interview, Subhash claimed that the Pardes distributors wanted him to replace Mahima and Apoorva Agnihotri, who played Ganga and Rajiv, respectively, in the 1997 movie, with “larger stars.” In it, Shah Rukh played the role of Arjun.

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Speaking of Pardes, Subhash said, “The greatest hurdle in making the film was the casting. We had a lot of discussions about whether we should cast a known name who had that star value, or find someone who suits the part to the T. I had Shah Rukh Khan in mind for Arjun’s character. I had developed it keeping him in mind, and I insisted on casting him. He was just setting foot in the industry at that time, and I got him on board immediately. He was perfect for the role.”

Speaking of how he had a hard time convincing the film’s distributors about casting Mahima for Pardes, Subhash Ghai further said, “My script did not allow me to cast a star for Kusum Ganga’s and Rajiv’s characters (played by Mahima and Apoorva). I only wanted to cast actors who could fit the bill. The distributors wanted me to cast bigger names and create a bigger project because our previous film Trimurti had not worked at the box office. I declined. I said, ‘I am making a film, not a project. I want to be sincere with what I want to say.’ Finally, when they saw Pardes, they were convinced. The rest is history! The film celebrated a golden jubilee run all over India, and Mahima won awards. I got some awards for the screenplay, too.”

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Alok Nath and Himani Shivpuri had important parts in Pardes as well. The theme of the movie was the contrast between Indian and Western cultural ideals. While living abroad in Pardes, Shah Rukh’s Arjun maintained his commitment to his native culture.