Aamir Khan’s nuanced performance and chiseled body made Ghajini a superhit but he wasn’t the first choice, it was…

Bollywood's Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan is known for delivering some of the pioneer films in the film industry. One of his most special films remains the 2008 blockbuster Ghajini, which not only broke several records at the box office but also was the first Hindi film to earn over Rs 100 crore nett in India, thus beginning the 100-crore club. Aamir Khan played the leading role in the film with Asin making her Bollywood debut, and Pradeep Rawat cast as the antagonist. 

Ghajini also marked the Bollywood debut of the filmmaker AR Murugadoss and it was the official remake of his own 2005 Tamil film headlined by Suriya. In the film, Aamir Khan plays Sanjay Singhania, a short-term memory loss patient, who sets out to avenge the death of her love interest Kalpana, played by Asin. 

Ghajini was a one-of-a-kind film in Bollywood and was much-appreciated, not only for its storyline but also for Aamir Khan’s nuanced performance and chiseled body. 

However, many people are unaware of the fact that Aamir Khan was not the filmmaker's first choice to play Sanjay Singhania's role in Ghajini. It was Salman Khan. 

In an earlier interview, Pradeep Rawat revealed how he convinced AR Murugadoss to cast Aamir Khan, instead of Salman Khan. The actor shared that Murugadoss was very fond of Salman and wanted to cast him.

"I thought in my mind ‘Salman is short-tempered and Murugdoss doesn’t speak in English or Hindi. He didn’t even have a personality back then.' I thought Aamir would be the right choice for the role because he was cool-tempered and behaved respectfully with everyone. In the past 25 years, I have not seen Aamir shout or yell at anyone. He has never disrespected anyone or used abusive language. So I thought, nature-wise, Salman cannot be handled or there would be unnecessary complications", Pradeep Rawat said. 

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