Shahrukh
Khan
REJECTED
movie
with
Amitabh
Bachchan
Director
Subhash
Ghai
had
planned
an
ambitious
war
film
with
three
of
the
biggest
Bollywood
superstars
-
Dilip
Kumar,
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Shahrukh
Khan
-
but
he
had
to
shelve
it.
The
director
said
he
had
even
a
title
for
the
film,
which
was
to
be
called
'Mother
Land'.
SRK
Backed
Out
At
The
Last
Moment
"In
2003,
I
wanted
to
start
a
war
film
called
'Mother
Land',
where
I
had
cast
Dilip
Kumar,
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Shahrukh
Khan.
The
script
was
ready
and
three
songs
were
also
recorded,
but
at
the
last
minute
Shahrukh
backed
out,"
Ghai
says
in
a
PTI
interview.
Aishwarya’s
Name
Was
Also
On
The
List
The
filmmaker,
who
has
previously
worked
with
Shahrukh
in
the
1997
hit
film,
Pardes,
said
the
superstar
wanted
a
solo-hero
project
back
then
and
hence
the
dream
project
could
not
go
on
floors.
"He
(Shahrukh)
felt
there
are
so
many
characters
in
the
film.
He
wanted
to
do
a
solo
hero
film
then,
but
mine
was
not.
It
was
a
story
of
Dilip
saab,
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Shah
Rukh.
On
my
wish
list
were
also
Aishwarya
Rai,
Priety
Zinta
and
Mahima
Chaudhry
for
the
film
but
that's
destiny,"
he
says.
Even
‘Shikhar’
Couldn’t
Happen
"Mother
Land" did
not
take
off
but
there
was
another
film,
called
‘Shikhar'
that
Ghai
had
planned
to
make
with
Shahrukh.
However,
that
also
got
shelved,
thus
giving
birth
to
‘Pardes'.
"Before
'Pardes'
I
had
designed
a
film
called
'Shikhar',
staring
Jackie
Shroff
and
Shah
Rukh,
where
we
were
to
cast
a
new
girl.
It
was
a
love
story
with
a
war
backdrop.
We
had
done
our
muhurat
too
and
recorded
a
song
after
signing
A
R
Rahman,"
he
says.
Did
You
Know?
"'Ishq
bina
kya
jeena
yaaro' was
a
song
from
'Shikhar'
(which
eventually
became
one
of
the
most
popular
songs
from
his
'Taal').
But
when
'Trimurti'
(1995)
released
and
flopped,
the
media
and
distributors
said
'how
could
you
give
a
flop
after
ten
hits?
You
better
retire'!"
he
says.
The
phase
put
Ghai
and
his
team
in
confusion,
as
they
decided
to
scrap
the
ambitious
war
film
and
instead
focused
on
making
a
small
film.
"My
team
thought,
since
'Shikhar'
was
a
very
big
war
film
with
huge
investment,
let's
make
a
small
budget
film.
I
thought
let's
make
a
small
film,
which
happened
to
be
'Pardes',
shoot
within
a
year
and
come
back
to
'Sikhar'
later," Ghai
says.
When
"Pardes"
released
and
became
a
hit,
Ghai
moved
on
to
helm
"Taal"
(1999).
The
72-year-old
filmmaker
recently
showcased
'Pardes'
at
New
Excelsior
Cinema,
acquired
by
Mukta
A2
Cinema,
a
branch
of
Ghai's
Mukta
Arts.