SRK and Ash - Mani's First Choice for RAVANA

For all those who believe Abhishek Bachchan as the maiden choice of Mani Ratnam's 'Ravan', it would come as a surprising revelation that Mani wanted to cast Shah Rukh Khan with Aishwarya as the lead pair of his multilingual project.

When Mani Ratnam called SRK regarding 'Ravan', the dimpled actor was enthusiastic and said he would certainly meet for the narration.

However, according to a source, "Not many know that Shah Rukh was the first choice. Mani had written the script keeping him in mind. Also, when Mani approached Ash, even she suggested that he should approach SRK for the role opposite her."

A long delay in correspondence between the actor and Mani made SRK commit to director Aditya Chopra for 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'.

Shah Rukh clarified, "Actually there were two reasons I had just said yes to Mani sir. I had given up on '3 Idiots', or they had thrown me out of 'Idiots', anyway you want to look at it - and 'Robots' had fallen through with Shankar. So, both films were not happening and I had time. Mani sir said he had a project for me and we decided to chat about it when he came to Bombay. Unfortunately, by the time we sat on it, Adi had already approached me for 'Rab Ne...', and I had committed to it. But I would have loved to work with Mani sir any time."

When enquired about the curious buzz that shooting in jungles was the major cause of his rejection, Shah Rukh said, "That I just joke with everyone. I told Ashutosh agli baar jab 'Jodhaa Akbar' banayega (Shah Rukh was supposed to do Jodhaa Akbar!), toh yahan banana. I travel everywhere, I just joke with people. But if a film requires, then I will shoot anywhere. Like, for Karan Johar`s 'My Name Is Khan' I am shooting from Borivili to Boston. I have no issues, but I only like to time it so that when my kids have holidays, I can be with them."

Well, I am looking forward for Ravana - SRK or no SRK... becuase it is a Mani film. But I do hope to see Ash and SRK pair again in some film......soon.