THIS young actress romanced Amitabh Bachchan after turning down the offer to play his wife!

2003's family drama Baghban, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in the lead remains one of the most cherished movies. The movie also starring Salman Khan, Mahima Chaudhry, Paresh Rawal and Rimi Sen among others in key roles, broke the stereotype and emerged commercially successful. The story based on an elderly couple is still loved by many movie lovers.

However, did you know Hema Malini was not the first choice for the role of Pooja Malhotra? The first choice of Ravi Chopra was a much younger actress than Big B. This actress refused to play the role of Big B's wife. Interestingly, after four years, she romanced him in another movie.

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Not Hema Malini, Tabu Was First Choice of Makers?

During a recent chat with Pinkvilla, Ravi Chopra's wife Renu Chopra revealed that Tabu was the first choice to play Amitabh's wife in Baghban. The reason she turned down the offer was she didn't want to play a mother of four grown-up kids on screen. Even, Hema Malini was quite sceptical to give a nod to the role for the same reason. However, she took up the role after her mother insisted on doing so as she loved the story.

Producer Renu Chopra said that initially, they wanted to cast Tabu. The actress loved the script and cried after hearing the story. While Renu thought Tabu would give a nod, someone sitting near her said, 'When Tabu cries listening to the script of a film, she never does that film.'

Renu was quoted as saying, "I asked this to Tabu, ‘You won’t do the film?’ She said she loved the story but she doesn’t want to portray a mother of four children. She said, ‘My whole career is ahead of me, so Ravi ji, mujhe maaf kardo (Ravi ji, please forgive me).’"

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Notably, at the time of Baghban's release in 2003, Tabu was 32 years old while Amitabh was 61 years old.

Though Tabu lost the opportunity to pair opposite Amitabh Bachchan in 2003, four years later, she romanced Big B in 2007's Cheeni Kum. Despite its poor opening, the movie became a hit at the box office and was well-received by the audience.

Tabu in Cheeni Kum With Amitabh Bachchan