Ajnabee turns 16: Did you know Shah Rukh Khan was offered Akshay’s role?
The Abbas-Mustan directorial that released in 2001 was a hit. As it turns one year older today here are some trivia from the film that you might like to know.
New Delhi Ajnabee (2001) was one of those films that touched a chord with the audience given the twist and turns in the plot. Not to forget, the Abbas-Mustan directorial also had praiseworthy performances by actors Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Bipasha Basu. Especially, Akshay, who earned accolades for his portrayal of the grey character, Vikram Bajaj.
As the film completes 16 years today, we take a trip down memory lane to take a look at some of the lesser known facts around the film.
1. Reportedly, the climax of the film was shot on the Indian-owned cruise liner, Ocean Majesty in Muscat, Dubai and also in Bahrain.
2. Bipasha Basu made her foray into Bollywood with this Abbas–Mustan thriller. Bipasha’s voice in the film was dubbed by a dubbing artiste in the movie.
3. This is the second film that Akshay Kumar and Abbas Mastan collaborated for and that too after 9 years. Before that they worked in the hit film Khiladi (1992), which was also Akshay’s debut.
4. Shah Rukh Khan was offered the role of Akshay first, but the former wasn’t keen on playing a villain, and thus let go of the offer.
5. Both Akshay and Bipasha won a popular award for their performance in the film. While Akshay received it for his performance as a villain and Bipasha was honoured with the best debutant award.
6. Singer-songwriter-composer Adnan Sami sung the song Mehbooba Mehbooba in the film. The song marked his Bollywood debut and became an instant hit.
7. As per sources, while shooting for the film, Kareena and Bobby had issues working with each other. They even decided not to work again. However, they soon resolved their issues and worked together in Dosti: Friends Forever (2005).
8. Bipasha and Kareena’s rivalry goes back to their Ajnabee days. It was reported that Kareena called Bipasha ‘Kaali billi’ because of dusky her complexion.
9. When the film was launched in 2000 it was titled Talaash. In fact, Mahek Chahal was supposed to portray Bipasha’s character.
10. In one of her interviews later, Bipasha had said that her role ion Ajnabee was one of the worst choices made by her in her career.
Source courtesy: IMDB
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