One director revealed that he is the first film maker to approch Aishwarya Rai to give her a chance to act in his film before she became a star.
He is the filmmaker Rajiv Rai who made big films like Tridev, Gupt and Mohra. He had approached Aishwarya Rai for the film Mohra which was released in 1994.
But Aishwarya Rai refused the offer of Rajiv Rai because at that time she was leaving for the Miss World competition and she rejected the offer by mentioning that if she wins the Miss World title she would be travelling for a year. After that Rajiv Rai never approached Aishwarya Rai after she became a star.
Aishwarya Rai in 1997 made her acting debut with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar, she became a star and the superstar of Bollywood.
Referring to Rajiv Rai:
Rajiv Rai made his directorial debut in 1985 with the action thriller film Yudh. Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor and Tina Munim were in the leading roles. His father Gulshan Rai produced the film. Anil Kapoor's dialogue Jhakaas has become iconic and it was a silver jubilee hit film.
In 1989 he directed Tridev and it became the third highest grossing film of the year. The song, Oye Oye remained as a evergreen song.
In 1992 he directed Vishwatma, it was a big hit film. Through this film Rajiv Rai introduced Divya Bharti to Bollywood and it became her Bollywood debut.
In 1994, he directed Mohra, it was a big block-buster, the film gave a big break to Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon. The song Tu Cheez Badi Hai has become a big hit song.
He directed thriller movie Gupt by casting, Kajol, Bobby Deol and Manisha Koirala in 1997, it was also a box office hit film. He won Filmfare Award for Best Editing.
Rajiv Rai has directed 7 films. His later films Pyar Ishq Aur Mohabbat in 2001 and Asambhab in 2004 failed at the box office. After that he maintained distance from the film industry.
When Aishwarya Rai refused to act in Mohra, Raveena Tandon gained that opportunity but it was an ideal decision of Aishwarya Rai so that she seriously focused on her Miss World competition, she received the title and became famous at the international level. In the later stage she also attained remarkable success in the Bollywood by becoming an iconic star.