Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; June 26, 2014)

If sources are to be believed, Anil Kapoor apparently recommended Sonam Kapoor to Salman Khan for Sooraj Barjatya’s upcoming film. Says a source, “When Arbaaz Khan approached Sonam for his project, Dolly Ko Doli, she agreed to star in his film. So recently when Anil Kapoor got to know that Sooraj Barjatya has been looking for a lead actress opposite Salman Khan in the film, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Anil decided to suggest his daughter’s name to Salman.” The source points out that since Anil is anyway a close friend of Sooraj Barjatya, the latter was more than happy to sign on Sonam. “After Anil recommended Sonam’s name to Salman, Sooraj got to know about this. Since he’s a good friend of Anil’s, he had a chat about the same with him and Sooraj then decided to offer the film to Sonam. Both he and Salman felt that she would fit the part,” says the source.

It may be pointed out that Sooraj Barjatya had initially approached Deepika Padukone but she couldn’t do the film due to date issues. After this, several names, including Anushka Sharma and Nargis Fakhri, were rumoured to have been offered the part but the fact is that neither of them were finalised for it.

Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya and Anil and Sonam Kapoor remained unavailable for comment.