‘Yaar! It’s Shah Rukh Khan’: What Mahira Khan was told when she asked to read Raees’ script

Mahira Khan who made her Bollywood debut alongside Shah Rukh Khan, had once revealed that her mother cried, and even asked if she was lying when she got to know that Mahira Khan had bagged a film with Shah Rukh Khan.

Speaking at the Faiz International Festival 2016, Pakistani actor Mahira Khan narrated the incident when she told her family about bagging her Bollywood debut. “What happened at my house was very funny. I rounded up everyone- my mom, my dad, my brother. It was late at night, I told them ‘there is this film I want to do in India.” Mahira made her Bollywood debut with Raees that also featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui in an important role.

“Everyone was like….no one cared. Pappa was like ‘tell us more’, Amma was like, ‘really?’ Then I told them ‘It is with Shah Rukh Khan’ and my mother started crying (imitates her mom crying). When I repeated that it is Shah Rukh Khan, she told me that I was lying. ‘Shah Rukh Khan is your …’ she said while crying and I told her ‘yes’.”

Mahira added that her mom was very happy and showered her with praises saying that she had done great things in life. She added that as a kid, she used to pray that she gets to work with Shah Rukh Khan. Directed by Rahul Dholakia, Raees released in January 2016.

Mahira Khan also narrated the story of how she got the film. “I went to Mumbai for the promotions of Humsafar that they were airing three years later. A few phone calls kept coming and I could not pick. Then I got a message ‘big film, pick up.’ I thought, I will enjoy this call if nothing else.”

“They explained the film to me, but it I could not understand. Then they said it is an Excel production. That rang a bell, they had done some great films such as Dil Chahta Hai. So I said ‘okay’. Then I was asked to meet the director the next day. I got up early morning, met them. I was told a bit about the story but Shah Rukh Khan remained a secret. I auditioned for them the next day and later got a call saying ‘you have got the part’. I asked them, what part it was and I was told ‘you are the lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan.”

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Mahira then said that she asked them to send the script but they responded with ‘What yaar! It is a Shah Rukh Khan film’. Mahira added that she wanted to tell them that she loved Shah Rukh Khan, but simply asked them, “I know, but can you send me the script?” She finally received the entire script and later shot for her part.

Mahira Khan could not promote her film in India due to a blanket ban on Pakistani artists which was imposed by producers’ associations at the time. Speaking about her, Shah Rukh Khan had told InStep in an interview, “First I’ll talk professionally. Mahira is a really fine actor. And she’s very different. She’s very quiet. A Hindi film is a world in itself and she’s fortunate to have come in a film like Raees, which is still a little more realistic than the likes of Dilwale or Happy New Year.”