When Divya Bharti was turned down in ‘Aankh’ for pairing Chunky Pandey, says producer Pahlaj Nihalani

Pahlaj Nihalani once recalled a casting change in ‘Aankhen’ and claimed that Divya Bharti he turned down the film after learning that he would be paired opposite The stout Pandey than Govinda. The former CBFC chief and producer said that Divya, Pooja Bhatt and Juhi Chawla were considered for the first time for the Govinda-led film. In a retrospective revelation, Nihalani also said that Divya did a “big U-turn” before walking away from the project.

Divya Bharti’s ‘Aankh’ casting row

Speaking to Bollywood Thikana, Pahlaj Nihalani said that the original plan was to cast Divya Bharti, Pooja Bhatt and Juhi Chawla in ‘Aankh’. He said the issue started after he told Divya that he would be paired with Chunky Pandey, and said that Ritu would be opposite Shivpuri Govinda.Nihalani said, “Divya (Bharti), Pooja Bhatt and Juhi Chawla were originally supposed to do the film. I decided that Divya should be paired with Chunky and Ritu Shivpuri should be opposite Govinda. When David told him this, he was furious.’Divya then called and said that she objected to the casting decision. “He called me, and he started threatening to do things. He threw a huge tantrum, and he called me. I went to meet him, and he said, ‘Did I hear that I’m in front of Chunky?’ I said yes. He refused to do the film,” said Nihalani.

Pahlaj Nihalani recalls his first meeting with Divya Bharti

In the same interview, Nihalani also spoke about his first impression of Divya before starting work on ‘Aankhen’. He said he was approached through a secretary before the film went on floors.“We hadn’t started shooting the movie yet, and he approached me through a secretary. I saw his pictures and felt that he was a little fat. I told the secretary that he needed to lose weight before starting work. In the meantime, we started shooting,” he said.Nihalani added that Divya finally started shooting the film five days before the end of the schedule. After his departure, Raageshwari came in for the role.‘Aankhen’, directed by David Dhawan, went on to become one of Govinda’s popular comedy films.