If this actress was of short height, she would have been Salman Khan’s heroine in the blockbuster, Bhagyashree’s name would have been cut.

New Delhi. ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ is that film of Salman Khan and Bhagyashree, which is still talked about even after three decades have passed. This was the first blockbuster film of Salman Khan’s career, in which he played the role of lead actor. The film’s director Sooraj Barjatya had auditioned many actresses to choose Salman Khan’s heroine in this film and the finalist was Bhagyashree. But Kapil Sharma’s onscreen ‘aunt’ i.e. Upasana Singh claims that she, not Bhagyashree, was Sooraj Barjatya’s first choice for the film, but she had to leave the film.

In conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Upasana recalled that she auditioned for the role of Bhagyashree in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’.

Sooraj Barjatya liked me for the role, but…
She shared that when she came to Mumbai for the first time, she met Sooraj Barjatya. He told, ‘Sooraj Barjatya told me everything about the film, about my role and he chose me. After that, he said that you come tomorrow and meet my father, but from my side you are fine. The next day, I met his father and he rejected me. They are very sweet people, so they didn’t reject me, but they never called me again.

Maine Pyar Kiya was released in the year 1989.

Years old secret revealed on the sets of ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’
Upasana further said, ‘Many years later, she worked with Rajshri in ‘Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’ and then Raj Kumar Barjatya announced in front of the cast of the film that Upasana was his first choice. Recalling an anecdote from the sets, she shared, ‘They said, ‘Do you know who was our first choice for ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’?’ Kareena, Abhishek and Hrithik were all there. I never told people about it because I lost that role. Then he said ‘that was worship’. Everyone was shocked. I said ‘But because of you I didn’t get that role.’ He said, ‘If I had chosen you, you too would have left films like Bhagyashree.’

‘I’m not making any excuses, but you…’
Upasana then revealed why she was not selected for the film. He shared that he was looking for a heroine who was much younger than Salman and Upasana was tall. He told that Barjatya sahib said, ‘I am not making any excuse, but you were taller than Salman’. This is what I was told. They wanted a heroine who was a little shorter than Salman, so they did not cast me.

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