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Actor Juhi Chawla’s career trajectory would have been different if things had panned out the way they were falling in place in the late 80s. The actor, in an old interview, had revealed that she had done a screen test to play Draupadi in producer BR Chopra’s iconic TV show Mahabharat, and had also bagged the part.
The 1988 landmark TV show was backed by BR Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra. In the screen adaptation of the epic, the role of Draupadi was eventually played by actor Roopa Ganguly.
In a throwback interview, Juhi Chawla said her family knew only a handful of people from the film industry, including BR Chopra. She recalled meeting the revered producer before the release of her debut film Sultanat in 1986, in which she had a brief role.
Juhi said, “I had met BR Chopra saab and he was such a well-mannered, learned man, who treated me with respect. He took my screen test for Draupadi’s role in Mahabharat and actually even selected me for that! Then, when Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was signed, he told me, ‘Don’t do it (my show). TV rehne do, if your film is getting made, work there.’”
“Because even I was confused, as to what to do, I didn’t even have that knowledge back then on what was the right choice. So, he was the one who showed me the direction,” she added.
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was the breakthrough film for Juhi Chawla. Co-starring Aamir Khan, the movie was a major box office hit, establishing both the actors as stars in the making.
Juhi Chawla continued to be one of the biggest female stars of the 90s, forming an on-screen partnership with Amair Khan and later Shah Rukh Khan. The two now co-own the IPL cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders.
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