Mahira Khan was cast opposite Shahrukh Khan in Raees. The film became the only Bollywood project that she did as she was banned from the industry by Hindu extremists and she was not even able to promote the movie with numerous threats surrounding her name at the time. Her work was noticed and she also received a lot of appreciation for playing Aasiya in the film.
There have been many stories about Mahira Khan’s casting in Raees with different claims about who was going to get cast in that role instead. Raees director Rahul Dholakia has finally revealed how he discovered Mahira Khan and she became the part of that movie.
Rahul claimed that they wanted a girl who was over 30 years old and could speak good Urdu. There were heroines like Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif who looked innocent but they were either not ready to do such a short role or wanted to be paid more. Rahul’s own mother and Gauri Khan’s mother had seen Mahira and recommended her independently. They took an audition and knew this was his Aasiya.
Mahira Khan Casting In Raees
This is what Rahul revealed in an interview with Mashable India:
The internet has a lot of reactions to the revelation and this is what they think:
