Pakistani actress Mahira Khan has cleared the air regarding claims that she is always spotted talking about Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
Recently, during the Aalami Urdu Conference 2024, she was asked if she ever gets tired of being asked about the ‘King of Bollywood’.
“Do you ever get annoyed with this topic… that whenever there’s an interview, they always ask how it felt to work with Shah Rukh Khan? Do you think its fine? I mean he’s a superstar… so people ask… but do you think it’s too much?” host Waseem Badami asked.
To which Mahira said she could never have “enough of him”.
“Well, I will never have enough of him, but I think when someone asks me, I answer. Then people think I’m talking about him, which I never do… what I feel is that they shouldn’t even ask me.”
Mahira is the only Pakistani actress to work with Shah Rukh. Consequently, The Raees actress is also the only Pakistani star who has repeatedly been asked about her experience of working with him.
The film Raees was released in 2017, Mahira Khan plays the female opposite Bollywood king Shah Rukh.
Mahira portrays Aasiya, Raees’ wife, a character who is strong, supportive, and plays a crucial role in his personal life. Her performance was widely appreciated for its emotional depth and grace, standing out amidst the intense action and drama.
The film was directed by Rahul Dholakia and written by Harit Mehta, Niraj Shukla and Rahul Dholakia.
Earlier,Indian film director Rahul Dholaika considered top Bollywood actresses like Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, and Kaitrina for his film Raees, but none were the right fit. Instead, actress Mahira Khan caught his attention and was chosen to play Aasiya opposite Shahrukh Khan.
During his appearance as a guest on Mashable India, director Rahul Dholaika explained why he picked Mahira Khan for his film Raees.
“We wanted an 80s Muslim girl. Number one criteria is Hindi, secondly, her Urdu should have a little twang, if she has it, is even better. The other is she has to be innocent. Okay, now you have Shahrukh, who is 50, so you need someone whose screen age is 30-something or 35. You need somebody who is at least 30 plus or around 30 as an actress, now, an actress around 30 who is innocent. There are very few of them. There was Deepika, there was Kareena, and there was Anushka. So, there were these three or four heroines that were there.”
As the casting process went on, it became clear that finding an actress who fit all the requirements for Aasiya was not easy, Dholaika explained, saying, “So now, if you have these three or four heroines, then either they are too expensive, or the role is too small for them. So we went through that gamut, and we said, ‘Yeah, Sonam, Katrina,’ you know, went through the whole list of it. And then at the end of it all, we decided this is not working for us. If it’s working for Farhan, it’s not working for Shahrukh, it’s not working for Shahrukh and Farhan, not working for me. Now, you don’t want him to romance Alia, you know, or something like that.”
“I think Gauri’s mom had seen Mahira, and my mom had seen Mahira independently. I told the casting director, ‘Do you know her? What do you think of her?’ So, he said, ‘She’s here in BB Fashion.’ That’s how it happened,” the Raees director added.
