Salman Khan was not the right fit for Vivah reveals director Sooraj Barjatya: "Kyunki you have a major star and bholapan, umar chahiye'

Sooraj Barjatya cast a much younger looking Shahid Kapoor in Vivah

Ace director Sooraj Barjatya, who will be soon reuniting with his favourite Salman Khan in yet another movie, recently spoke about the recent he didn't cast the actor in Vivah.

Vivah, which released in 2006, had Shahid Kapoor in the lead along with Amrita Rao and it was huge box office success.

Ask Sooraj what was the reason he opted to make Shahid Kapoor his Prem instead of Salman Khan, the director told Digital Commentary in an interview, “Uss tarah se dekhu toh main bohot hi selfish aadmi hu because nothing is more important than me being a writer and director. Chaahe Maine Pyaar Kiya ho, Hum Aapke Hain Koun ho… toh humesha woh subject ne pukara nahi toh ek ek ko 5 saal kyu liya maine? Humesha subject khud bolta hain hume ye banana hain (If I look at it like that, I am selfish with my own work. Be it any of my previous films, it was always the subject matter which calls me first, or else why would I take 5 years for a film? It is always the subject matter).”

Sooraj, whose last release Uunchai (2022) about ageing friends was also a hit, said: “Ye ek kahani thi jo mere father ne di thi, ek newspaper cutting thi. Ki Meerut ke kisi darji ne apni wife ko saat phere liye, jal gayi thi dulhan. Toh uss humanity ko leke we thought of making a love story. Jab ye call aata raha mujhe toh mujhe laga ki isme Salman bhai fit nahi honge. Kyuki you have a major star and bholapan, umar chahiye. Umar toh kisi ke liye nahi rukti. Toh isiliye Shahid-Amrita ki casting hui (My father had shown me a newspaper cutting about this news where a tailor from Meerut had married a girl even though she got scarred in fire burns. We thought of making a story based on that humanity. But the story demanded someone fresh and naive, so Salman was not the right fit. Hence, Shahid and Amrita were cast).”

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Sooraj Barjatya first worked with Salman Khan on his 1989 directorial debut "Maine Pyar Kiya", and followed it up with "Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!", "Hum Saath Saath Hain", and "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo".

In all his four films with Salman, Sooraj Barjatya cast him as Prem, a screen name that has become synonymous with the superstar.

Sooraj Barjatya has also said the script of his potential film with friend and frequent collaborator Salman Khan is still a work in progress as he is currently focused on his web series "Bada Naam Karenge".

Talking about Shahid Kapoor, he will be seen next in Deva whereas Salman Khan's s next film Sikander will release on Eid this year.