Ghajini stands out as one of the finest films in Aamir Khan’s career. It is a Hindi remake of the 2005 Tamil film of the same name. But, do you know that Salman Khan was the first choice for Aamir’s role in the 2008 film? Pradeep Rawat, who portrayed the role of the antagonist in both the Hindi and Tamil versions, shared how he suggested Aamir instead of the “short-tempered” Salman Khan. During an interview with Siddharth Kannan, the actor mentioned, “AR Murugadoss (director) used to keep saying ‘I want to make it (Ghajini) in Hindi, I want to make it in Hindi…’ I thought in my mind ‘Salman is short-tempered and Murugadoss doesn’t speak in English or Hindi. He didn’t even have a personality back then.'”
“I thought Aamir Khan would be the right choice for the role because he was cool-tempered and behaves respectfully with everyone. In the past 25 years, I have not seen Aamir shout or yell at anyone. He has never disrespected anyone or used abusive language. So I thought, nature-wise, Salman cannot be handled or there would be unnecessary complications,” Pradeep Rawat added.
During the same interaction, Pradeep Rawat also recalled an incident where Aamir Khan got injured during a climax scene. The actor said, “I was supposed to run for a bit and jump on the mattresses, and Aamir was supposed to follow suit. While jumping, I ensured there was space for Aamir to jump and land on the mattress, but the next thing I heard was him crying in pain. ‘Are baap re…!’ I saw him scream in excruciating pain. This was the first time I heard him abuse. He had to be picked up. Aamir Khan doesn’t abuse, but pehli baar unke mooh see gaali suni thi [but first time I heard him using abusive words.]”
Pradeep Rawat continued, “I heard him scream in pain. This time, he had to be lifted on a stretcher. He wasn’t in a condition to walk. The fight sequences required a lot of running which meant he lost a lot of fluids and suffered a cramp owing to the dehydration.”
In Ghajini, Aamir Khan portrays the character of Sanjay Singhania, a man suffering from short-term memory loss while seeking justice for his lover Kalpana’s (played by Asin) death.
