Was Salman Khan the first choice for Shah Rukh Khan's Devdas?

Can you imagine anybody else except Shah Rukh Khan as Devdas in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus? We can't

During a candid chat with journalist Vickey Lalwani, composer and musician Ismail Darbar, opened up about how the cult classic Devdas (2002), helmed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, wasn't necessarily pictured with Shah Rukh Khan all along. Ismail, who composed the songs for the film, revealed that it was apparently Salman Khan who was the first pick for the film.

Was Salman Khan and not Shah Rukh Khan Sanjay Leela Bhansali's first pick for Devdas? (Photos: X)

However, Sanjay apparently opted to drop Salman in favour of SRK for the final casting.

He said, "When I needed work, he (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) gave me Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and when he needed me, I gave up all the work I had for him. He was my godfather in the industry, after all...My heart tells me that his equation with Salman soured because he hired Shah Rukh for Devdas. Salman supported him even when Khamoshi flopped. Isn't it obvious? If I help you out twice, and the third time, you go and hire my competitor, I would be upset."

The most obvious follow up to this would be conjecture over if Aishwarya Rai, who led the film as Paro, and her breakup with Salman at the time, was the reason behind this major switch. And Ismail confirmed as such. He said, “The news of their fights were all over the media. We used to feel bad; they were so close, they shouldn't have been fighting. But these are all things of the past, even Salman is smart enough to never speak about it.”

Now while we won't know if this is entirely true or not, Ismail also had much to say about how Aishwarya dealt with the messy aftermath of her split from Salman. He said, “Her greatest hurt was being abandoned by the industry for Salman. That was her greatest hurt. She really felt bad. She didn't trust the industry anymore. They weren't being fair. I could understand if she was wrong and the other party was right, or if they were equally responsible. Nothing! It was so one-sided. She felt very, very betrayed by the industry.”

Can you imagine anybody but Shah Rukh as Salman Khan's Devdas?