Not Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini, THESE veteran stars were the original choice for Baghban

Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini starrer Baghban was released in 2003 and turned out to be one of the cult classics of all time. This family drama also starred Salman Khan, Samir Soni, Mahima Choudhary, Aman Yatan Varma, Rimi Sen, Avatar Gill and Asrani in pivotal roles.

It’s been 20 years since the movie was released and people still love the movie equally.

But do you know the movie was in the director’s mind since 40 years ago? The movie was directed by Ravi Chopra who was the son of veteran filmmaker BR Chopra. In an old interview with, Ravi once revealed, “This idea originated in my father’s mind about 40 years ago. We were in Norway.”

He added, “He happened to visit a home for the aged. The place was tremendously well-kept, yet he found that the elderly people residing there were terribly disappointed with life. They told us that they had everything provided for except one thing —- the love of their children. That moved my father and he decided to use it as the subject of his film.

Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini weren’t the first choice for Baghban

Ravi in the same interview revealed, “My first choice for this film were Dilip Kumar and Waheeda Rehman. That was years back when we were toying with the idea of beginning this film. The story is essentially a love story of a 60-plus couple. Today, Dilip saab and Waheedaji have moved away from the 60-plus bracket.”

“I couldn’t have thought of a better jodi than Amitabh and Hema, could I? Amitabh has worked for us in Zameer, and since then, we had become close friends”, he said. Over the years, Baghban has emerged as a guilty pleasure for all kids as well as a tool to school them for all parents.