Not Mahira Khan but Ankita Shorey was the first choice for Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees

According to Femina Miss India (2011) - Ankita Shorey, Mahira Khan was not the first choice for the female lead’s character in Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees.

Pic courtesy: ankita.shorey (Instagram)

Mumbai: This is interesting! Pakistani actress Mahira Khan wasn’t the first choice for the female lead’s role in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees. Yes, you heard that right. According to Femina Miss India (2011) - Ankita Shorey, she was initially chosen for the big flick but was eventually replaced by Mahira.

Ankita, on Friday confirmed that she had even given the look test for the SRK film.

Talking about the casting, Shorey said, “Yes, I was the initial choice for the female lead of the film. In fact I went through the look test for the role as it is a character of a Pakistani Muslim girl, and they (filmmaker/producers) were looking for a certain face. I waited for six months for the confirmation and join the workshop to prepare for the role. However, there was a last minute change.”

The former beauty queen decided to speak about it after remaining silent for many months because she wanted to put all the recent speculations to rest.

Ankita was in Paris for the French European Indian Fashion Week when she got to know about the rumours. Though in the beginning she did not feel the need to explain things to the media, later she understood the importance of a clarification.

"When I read it online, the article clearly said that someone from the production house unveiled the story. Since the fact was right, I was silent and did not give my statement. Later heard rumours like I have been replaced because of my nationality and religion. There is no truth to that at all. So today I am making the official statement," she said.

Ankita was upset for having lost an opportunity of working with SRK but she has no complaints.

"As a human being, I had an expectation and I felt a little bad when I got to know it but I believe that everything happens for a reason. The only regret is that I missed out a chance to work with Excel Entertainment and Shah Rukh Khan. Mahira is a great actress, I am sure she has done a good job," she said.

(With IANS inputs)