Bhumika Chawla missed out on these popular films
Actor Bhumika Chawla is in the buzz due to the release of Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, where she plays the role of Bhagya's (Pooja Hegde) sister-in-law. The film reunites her with her Tere Naam co-star Salman Khan. Though Tere Naam remains her most popular movie in the Hindi belt, do you know she was almost a part of these popular movies, too?
'Jab We Met'
Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met was fronted by Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan and is regarded as the latter's career-best performance. On interviewer Siddharth Kanan's show, Chawla revealed that JWM was initially called Train and was supposed to star her opposite Bobby Deol, but once the production changed, the makers locked Kapoor Khan and it eventually released with the title Jab We Met.
'Lage Raho Munna Bhai'
Lage Raho Munna Bhai, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, was the spiritual sequel of his iconic, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. The social comedy-drama was released in 2006 and starred Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Dia Mirza, and Arshad Warsi, among others. Chawla was approached for Balan's role, but she was later abruptly replaced and Hirani told her that "someone's mistake" led to her sudden replacement.
'Bajirao Mastani'
In the same conversation, Chawla revealed that she had done a screentest for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani right after the success of Tere Naam, but things didn't materialize. She said, "I had done a photoshoot with Sir. My sari caught fire because ghee and oil spilled on my sari. I was holding the diyas in his style and it fell."
'Kannathil Muthamittal'
Another film that Chawla could not be a part of was Mani Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal. The Tamil-language musical war drama starred R Madhavan, Simran, Prakash Raj, Nandita Das, and PS Keerthana, among others. The drama was released theatrically in 2002 and the title translates into English as "A Peck on the Cheek." The movie is available for streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Take a quick glance at Chawla's career across languages
Chawla has worked in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu cinema, and some of her most notable films include Yuvakudu, Kushi, Anasuya, and Middle Class Abbayi. She made her Hindi film debut with Tere Naam (2003) and subsequently acted in Hindi movies such as MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Gandhi, My Father, Run, Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa, and Family, among others.
