National Award Role First Rejected by Top Heroine

Dil Toh Pagal Hai was released in 1997 and became the highest-grossing film of that year. But did you know that Karisma Kapoor, who played the supporting role, initially refused to do the movie?

Karisma Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Madhuri Dixit starrer Dil To Pagal Hai by the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra is still considered one of the best musical romances in Bollywood.

The movie revolves around the love lives of the members of a musical troupe. Madhuri and Karisma’s characters get involved in a love triangle with SRK’s character.

It received multiple accolades, and the performances and music were widely loved by the audience.

But Karisma Kapoor, who played Nisha, SRK’s friend, rejected the role when it first came to her.

The reason was completely understandable.

Madhuri Dixit is known for her amazing dance skills. The two characters were supposed to be a part of a dance-off in the film.

Any actress would refuse the role, after all, no one was willing to make a fool of themselves by going against the dancing diva.

And so did Karisma. She recalled how every actress refused to play the role, and initially, she did too.

Later on, when Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra narrated the story to the actress, her mother motivated her.

It was Karisma’s mother who pushed her to take up the challenge. Karisma was a fan of Madhuri and so her mother told her that if she worked hard, she would shine for sure.

And Karisma did shine bright, so much that she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1998 for her role.

I guess we should thank her mother for pushing her to accept the role because we couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the role of Nisha like her!