Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his ostentatious storytelling and his ‘Devdas’ movie still continues to mesmerize the audience with its aesthetic.
Starring Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in the lead, Devdas was released on 12th July 2002.
As the movie completes 19 years today… on this special occasion, we have a few, fun facts that will blow your mind!
1) Salman Khan – 1st Choice
SRK’s portrayal of the alcoholic Devdas is iconic and he bagged Filmfare’s Best Actor Award for the role.
Apparently, Salman Khan was the initial choice for the movie, but he turned it down, as per a report.
2) Madhuri Dixit’s Heavy Lehengas & The WHOPPING COST!
As per an Indian Express report, Madhuri Dixit’s outfits for the film were designed by Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla.
All her costumes allegedly cost around 15 LAKHS! And they were exquisite but heavy as hell – Madhuri wore a 30 kg lehenga while dancing in the ‘Kaahe Chhed Mohe’ song!
3) 50-Crore Movie Budget
As per India Today report, Devdas was one of the most expensive Hindi films at that time with a mammoth budget of 50 crores!
The film went on to become a blockbuster with a box office collection of 99.8 crores!
4) 20-Crore Sets
Half the heart of SLB’s movies lies in the sheer beauty of his sets. Devdas boasted of ethereal sets which were painstakingly made – and the budget for that was 20 crores, as per a report.
Moreover, 12 crores from that went into the making of Chandramukhi’s kotha set!
5) Snoop Dogg Sampled Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka
Aishwarya Rai stunned us all with her astonishing beauty and graceful movies in ‘Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka’.
The song got so popular that Snoop Dogg sampled it for his song ‘Snoop Dogg Millionaire’.
6) Horrifying Accident
As per a report, a gruesome death had taken place on the Devdas sets – a stagehand ended up having his head cut off due to a freak accident with a wind machine.
His blood splattered Aishwarya who was severely traumatized by the event!