PremiumDid you know that Sanjay Dutt once told Aishwarya Rai not to become an actor?
Sanjay Dutt was smitten with Aishwarya Rai's beauty, but advised her not to enter films because he was afraid that she would lose her innocence if she joined Bollywood
Last Updated: 04.03 PM, Jun 22, 2023
It was in 1993 that Aishwarya Rai and Sanjay Dutt met for the first time. This was before she became Miss World and then went on to enter Bollywood.
At the time, Aishwarya was a successful model and had met Sanjay for a magazine photoshoot.
Speaking with Cineblitz back then, the magazine for which the shoot took place, Sanjay had said that he had seen Aishwarya in a Pepsi ad before they met for the photoshoot, and when he did meet Ash, he had asked who that beautiful woman was. It is reported that the soon-to-be beauty queen (Aishwarya was crowned Miss World in 1994) blushed at the compliment.
While Sanjay was smitten with Aishwarya's beauty, he actually advised her not to enter films. In the same interview, he said that he thought that Aishwarya was innocent and was afraid that she would lose her innocence if she joined Bollywood.
"When you come into this glamour industry, it starts changing you, maturing you; that innocence is lost. That beautiful side that she has right now on her face will disappear. Because she has to handle the film world right, and that is not easy to do," he told the magazine.
He went on to speak about how cutthroat the film industry is, saying that "nobody is there for you". "It’s too professional; there are no feelings in this industry. You’ve got to be prepared that if you’re not doing well, nobody’s there for you. And if you are, you’ll have everyone around you," he added.
Of course, Aishwarya went on to do films and has become one of the most popular Bollywood actors of all time. She debuted with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar in 1997 and made her Hindi film debut the same year with Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol.
It is interesting to note that Aishwarya and Sanjay have worked together in the 2002 film Hum Kisise Kum Nahin and the 2005 psychological art film Shabd.