Sridevi says 'No' to Yash Chopra!

We know that Yash Chopra has made many other directors part of his production house Yash Raj Films but he himself has not yet called it a day. While people are speculating about who will star in Yash Chopra's next directorial venture after Veer Zaara, here is a story that tells you what Yash Chopra planned recently but failed to make it materialise.

Yash Chopra, who has made successful mature love stories like Kabhi Kabhie, Chandni, and Lamhe recently approached Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi to play the lead actors in his next film. While Bachchan agreed immediately, Sridevi took some time to make up her mind.

Our source says, "After a few days, Yash and Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor had a chat about this film. Boney told Yash that he too was keen to re-launch his wife Sridevi in his own production and it would be better if Yash cast some other actress instead."

That's when politician and Bachchan's good friend Amar Singh got into the act. Apparently, Bachchan was quite kicked about doing a Yash Chopra film with Sridevi. Our source adds, "Amar Singh tried to convince Boney to let Sridevi act in Yash's film. Boney still did not relent. He told Amar Singh that they are friends but he should let this one pass."

So why didn't Yash cast someone else instead of Sridevi? Our source reveals, "Anybody else apart from Sridevi would have not suited the role. Besides, Yash is a great filmmaker. If he thinks of a subject, he has the actor and actress in mind from day one. He did not make any compromises and put the project on the backburner when things did not work out with Sridevi."

When contacted, Boney confirmed that Yash had planned a film with Bachchan and Sridevi. He said, "However, I did not tell Yashji that I will be making Sridevi's comeback film."

We then asked about Amar Singh trying to convince him to let the project happen. After a slight pause Boney replied, "No, Amar Singh did not speak to me about this." When we probed further, saying that Bachchan and Amar Singh were quite enthusiastic that Yash's project should go on the floors with Amitabh and Sridevi in the lead, Boney said, "Amar Singh and Amitji must have been keen. But it didn't happen due to some other reason, which I am not aware of."


Amitabh and Sridevi had earlier starred together in Inquilab, Aakhri Raasta, and Khuda Gawah and all the three films did reasonably well. Sridevi's last film Judaai (1997) left the audience wanting for more but her comeback of sorts on the small screen as a goofy Tamilian wife in Mrs Malini Iyer strangely did not enjoy very high viewership. However, Boney does not rule out re-launching Sridevi on the big screen. He said, "Sridevi's comeback film has to have an extraordinary subject. It can't be a run of the mill story. However, right now, my hands are full with other projects."

(india target)