Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 7, 2015)

Those tears we saw Aamir Khan shedding after he saw Bajrangi Bhaijaan may not only have been  an emotional response to the film’s content. AK could also be crying for the lost opportunity of being part of the film that exceeded the collections of Aamir’s record-holding PK.

That’s right. Bajrangi Bhaijaan was first offered to Aamir Khan. Here is the full story from someone associated with the project. “When writer  K V Vijayendra Prasad who regularly collaborates with his son S S Rajamouli, decided to do a script in Hindi. He came to Mumbai with the script of BB. He took the script straight to Aamir Khan as he wanted him for the part.” Aamir liked the basic idea of Indo-Pak amity, but had major reservations. “He wanted some radical changes in the script as he felt the content was too political. Vijayendra refused to make the changes,” says the source.

He then took the script to Hrithik Roshan. He loved the script. But when he heard the price — Rs2 crores — for the bound script, he felt it was too  much. Before Roshan Jr could make up his mind, Salman heard about the script. “He loved the concept and not only offered  to immediately buy the script, but also gave the writer Rs50 lakh immediately as the signing amount.” The rest, as they say, is history.