Shah Rukh Khan was seen opposite Pakistani actress Mahira Khan in the 2017 action movie, Raees. To date, it remains her only Hindi film feature which won her accolades and made her a household name in India. While one might think King Khan or director Rahul Dholakia would have been behind casting the international sensation. But that wasn’t the case. It was Gauri Khan’s mother who suggested casting Mahira opposite SRK in the actioner.

During an interaction with Mashable India, the director of Raees, Rahul Dholakia recalled how he discovered Mahira Khan for Raees. The filmmaker told the publication that both Gauri Khan’s mom and his mothers had seen the Pakistani actress star in a TV show. Hence, they both told him ‘Yeh ladki achi hai’. Soon after, Rahul called their casting head Honey Trehan, and inquired if he knew Mahira. Luckily, at that point, Mahira was in India for some promotional work. The next day, the director auditioned her at the Excel office and soon after, he declared “I have found my Aasiya.”

In the same chat, Rahul Dholakia also stated that they wanted an actor with good Hindi speaking skills with an Urdu twang to play a 1980s Muslim girl. SRK also wanted to romance a female star who was at least 30 years of age. In Bollywood, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Anushka Sharam fit the bill. “But now, the problem with them was that they are too expensive and the role is too small for them,” he stated adding that they also included Sonam Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in the new list of shortlisted stars. But soon they realized this wasn’t working. “They were not really fitting the role. Shah Rukh Khan cannot romance an Alia Bhatt” he exclaimed.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shah Rukh Khan is gearing up to kick-start the shoot for his upcoming Sujoy Ghosh movie, King with daughter Suhana Khan. Pinkvilla also exclusively learned that he is in talks with Amar Kaushik and Dinesh Vijan for an adventure film. “Shah Rukh Khan has met almost every filmmaker in the last few months and heard the ideas they had for him. But nothing really excited him. Now, Shah Rukh Khan is in talks with the Stree 2 team of Amar Kaushik and Dinesh Vijan,” revealed a source close to the development.

The source further added, “Amar and Dinoo have a big-ticket adventure film for SRK, and are exploring the possibilities of a collaboration. It would not be a part of the Stree Universe, but mark the beginning of a new one. Two to three meetings have taken place, and Shah Rukh Khan is yet to take a decision on the same.”

For more such scoop about the Indian film industry and its stars, stay tuned to Pinkvilla!

Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal got married earlier this year in an intimate ceremony at their home. After registering their marriage in the presence of their loved ones, the couple hosted a star-studded reception at Shilpa Shetty’s Mumbai restaurant. On the occasion of Karwa Chauth, the actress kept a fast for the well-being of her husband. The Notebook actor also joined her. But he didn’t eat because if she had, his wife would have ‘killed him.’

Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha was probably bored waiting for the Moon to come before she could break her fast on the occasion of Karwa Chauth. Hence, she decided to kill some time by annoying her loving husband, actor Zaheer Iqbal. In a clip she posted online, the Dabangg actress can be seen playing with flowers. When asked why is she behaving weirdly, Sona told Zaheer ‘Because I am hungry.’ When she asked why did he keep a fast, her husband told her “Because if I had eaten in front of you, you would have killed me.”

Captioning the video, she wrote, “Find a pati who won’t let you starve alone… whatever his reason may be. Happy Karwa Chauth… our first.”

Take a look: