Director Suneel Darshan, who has worked with Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor for most of his projects, took a different approach for Raj Kanwar’s Andaaz, bringing Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta on board. Opening up on his first meeting with Priyanka for the film, the director reveals he found her ordinary at the start but later felt she looked like Rekha with no makeup.
Suneel Darshan’s First Meet With Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra, who was crowned Miss World 2000, met Suneel Darshan for Andaaz, which also starred Lara Dutta, who earlier won the Miss Intercontinental 1997 and Miss Universe 2000 titles and marked her debut with this film. However, recalling meeting Priyanka, the director shared that at first he found her very ordinary and also found himself questioning what made her Miss World.
During the conversation with Hindi Rush, Suneel shared, “When I cast them, I had access to pretty much all the A-grade actresses in India, such as Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. But I wanted to do something different that time, and decided to hire two new ladies. Lara had just had a photoshoot with Akshay Kumar for a magazine. So, I asked my team to call her over.”
He further added, “For the second female character, I didn’t want someone who looked similar to the first. One day Priyanka Chopra came to my office. At first glance, I felt that she appeared ordinary. Then I interacted with her for 10 to 15 minutes, wondering, if she is a Miss World, so what that style in her made her Miss World.”
Suneel emphasized, “When I kept looking at her, I then realized Rekha Ji, without makeup, also looked similar. So I felt like maybe she is Rekha.” He then praised her Hindi speaking, saying, “Priyanka spoke Hindi so well and was a very intelligent girl. She had an issue with her nose at that time, which she later fixed (through surgery).”
