Dharmesh Darshan spoke about Aamir Khan’s role in the film and said that the actor only cared about resurrecting his brother Faisal Khan’s career.

Why Kajol refused to work with Aamir Khan

There are a few films that, despite their failures at the box office, have continued to spark discussions in Bollywood circles. One such film is Mela. The film received mixed reviews from cinema enthusiasts at the time of its release but was loved by people. Mela, directed by Dharmesh Darshan, featured Twinkle Khanna and Aamir Khan in the lead roles. The director, recently, in an interview with Lehren Retro, shared some intriguing details about the film as he looked back at various events that unfolded at that time.

In the interview, the director revealed that Kajol denied acting in the film opposite Aamir Khan as he was known for doing multiple takes whereas Kajol was a more spontaneous performer who would deliver in the first take itself. Speaking about why the My Name Is Khan actress refused the film, Darshan said, “Kajol was supposed to be in Mela, but there was some discomfort from her side. She was not sure about Aamir Khan at that point, though later on they did Fanaa. She’s a one-take actor, and he takes (many) takes. So, she had those reservations. But she was very gracious, she came to my house and explained it to me. Kajol was not known to do these things.”

Darshan went on to speak about Aamir Khan’s role in the film and said that the actor only cared about resurrecting his brother Faisal Khan’s career rather than the quality of the film. Darshan looked back when he directed the film and revealed that he didn’t want to be a part of Mela but later, agreed to do so as Aamir wanted to make a career of his brother.

Dharmesh, while referring to Aamir, said, “He had become so big after Raja Hindustani, and he didn’t have that commercial instinct. It became a hodgepodge, but I saved it at the end of the day economically. But I got so much flak for it.” 

Proceeding further, the director also spilled beans on the moment when he cried on set for the first time and the reason was Aamir Khan. He said that Aamir wanted to shoot a ‘vulgar’ scene that he had seen in the Hollywood film Dumb and Dumber. The urine therapy sequence (in the film) with Johnny Lever, when shot, had left the director emotional and he cried saying that who would believe this is an Aamir Khan sequence.