{
  "id": 760861,
  "title": "Subhash Ghai on casting challenge for ‘Taal’: I had to destroy Aishwarya Rai’s image",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/subhash-ghai-on-casting-challenge-for-taal-i-had-to-destroy-aishwarya",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-13T11:40:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/entertainment/2026-08-13-subhash-ghai-on-casting-challenge-for-taal-i-had-to-destroy-aishwarya-rais-image/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Celebrating the 27th anniversary of his directorial film 'Taal', filmmaker Subhash Ghai discussed the casting challenges faced during the making of the movie. Ghai revealed that he had to completely change Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's image to accurately portray her character, Mansi. The actress initially came with a glamorous image, but Ghai was seeking a young woman from a small town with talent, vulnerability, and a life-transforming journey. Ghai told Rai that he needed to erase her beauty, to which she agreed to do whatever he asked. Ghai consulted with legendary choreographer Saroj Khan to find an actress who could convincingly perform Mansi's dancing skills. Aishwarya was recommended, acknowledging it was a risk given Taal's ambitious nature and the decision to cast relatively young actors Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna in the central love story. Ghai's personal connection with Akshaye Khanna led to his casting, which Ghai maintains was crucial for the film's success. Recently, Ghai announced that the 'Taal 2' script is almost complete, but he remains committed to his original principle that Taal should not be built around stars. Instead, he cast the actors as they were, allowing their characters to grow and evolve beyond their initial portrayals.",
  "summary": "Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who is celebrating the 27th anniversary of his directorial ‘Taal’, has spoken up on the casting challenges for the film. The filmmaker has said that he told actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan that he would have to completely destroy her image in order to do justice to her part.",
  "key_points": [
    "Subhash Ghai had to alter Aishwarya Rai's glamorous image for Mansi's character.",
    "Ghai consulted Saroj Khan to find an actress for Mansi's dancing skills.",
    "Taal 2 script is almost complete, but Ghai remains committed to original casting principle."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Subhash Ghai's determination to overhaul Aishwarya Rai's image for 'Taal' paid off, allowing her character Mansi to transform and ultimately contributing to the film's success.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}