Not Akshay Kumar And Saif Ali Khan, These Two Actors Were First Chosen For Main Khiladi Tu Anari

Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Raageshwari starrer Main Khiladi Tu Anari proved to be a big blockbuster film. It was released on September 23, 1994, and has recently completed 30 years. The action comedy film was one of the top 5 highest-grossing films of that year and was a huge success at the box office. Main Khiladi Tu Anari, which was said to be made on a budget of Rs 3.25 crore, collected more than Rs 11 crore at the box office. But did you know that Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan were the first choices for this film?

According to reports, when the casting of the film was going on, Shah Rukh Khan showed an interest in Main Khiladi Tu Anari and he wanted to play the role of Michael J. Fox, which was in the original Hollywood film The Hard Way. But, when he came to know that Akshay Kumar had been chosen for the role of James Woods in the film, Shah Rukh Khan backed off from the movie. With Akshay Kumar’s presence, he thought 50 per cent of the attention of the film would be divided.

Reports suggest initially, that Shah Rukh Khan was also upset with the casting of Akshay Kumar for the role of James Woods, as he thought that an older actor like Naseeruddin Shah or Om Puri could have been a better fit. Shah Rukh Khan allegedly thought the film lacked depth and was being made purely as a comedy movie.

On the other hand, Salman Khan was chosen to play the role of Saif Ali Khan. During that time Salman Khan was already shooting for four other projects, for which he had to decline the offer. After this, Saif Ali Khan was selected and it was this role that made him a mainstream star.

The film’s success cemented Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar’s status as Bollywood’s leading men and a successful pair of bankable stars following Yeh Dillagi (1994), which was their first collaboration.

The film also featured Shakti Kapoor, Johnny Lever and Kader Khan in supporting roles. Khan’s performance in the film earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 40th Filmfare Awards. Main Khiladi Tu Anari was remade in Telugu as Hello Guru.