When Sunny Deol's film with Aishwarya Rai was SHELVED

Bollywood star Sunny Deol on Thursday, launched his new action film 'Jaat'. The movie opened to good reviews, but sadly didn't create as much buzz or hype as his 2023 release, '

Gadar 2

'.
As fans and trade gurus turn their focus to the box office to see how well his film performs on its opening weekend, this flashback Friday, we take a look back at a time when the young Sunny had to brave the heartbreak of his films getting shelved.
Did you know that Deol was once set to co-star in a film opposite a then debutant Aishwarya Rai? The actor had once revealed that Ash was initially scheduled to make her Bollywood film debut in his movie titled 'Indian'. According to the actor, the project was well underway — with songs shot and filming in progress — before it was ultimately shelved due to budget constraints.

Opening up on the talk show Aap Ki Adalat, the actor shared, “I myself was making the film Indian. Aishwarya was a part of the film and it was her debut film. We had shot songs and all, but then there were budget issues."
The ambitious project, initially envisioned in the mid-1990s, was later revived with a new cast. Indian was eventually released in 2001, starring Sunny Deol in the lead role alongside Shilpa Shetty, who replaced Aishwarya in the final version.
While the shelved version of Indian never saw the light of day with Aishwarya Rai, the actress went on to make her Bollywood debut in the 1997 film

Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya

, opposite Bobby Deol — Sunny Deol’s younger brother. Though the film received a lukewarm response at the box office, it marked the beginning of the actress' successful journey in Indian cinema.