Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan would’ve liked nothing better than doing films with husband Abhishek Bachchan. She has on more than one occasion, told close friends that even professionally, being paired with Abhishek is what she is most comfortable with.

So when buddy Karan Johar offered Aishwarya a chance to work with Abhishek in Dostana, with the sunny beach-side atmosphere of Miami being a plus, she was all for it.

All seemed well, albeit, the role required her to romance not just Abhishek, but also John Abraham, and, finally walk away with a third man! The third man is to be played by none other than Bobby Deol, who makes a surprise entry at the end of Dostana. Karan Johar says, “Bobby has a very special role in the film.” Special indeed, because he gets the girl from Abhishek and John!

Aishwarya refused Dostana simply because she couldn’t see herself romancing three men on screen, with her married Bachchan-bahu status. Also, Dostana required her to sport a lot of beachwear. Having refused to wear beachwear in Dhoom 2 already, she didn’t give a second thought to declining Dostana.

The lucky girl to have stepped into Aishwarya’s role is Priyanka Chopra. Dostana is the second film where Priyanka Chopra has benefitted from Ash leaving the project, the first being Rohan Sippy’s Bluff Master, in 2005. This would be Aishwarya’s third project with John Abraham gone wrong. Gaurang Doshi’s Happy Birthday never got made, and Sriram Raghavan’s film is yet to take off.