The eternal ice maiden of Hindi cinema, gorgeous, talented, beautiful Meenakshi Sheshadri, when one thinks of her it’s her ice cold Meenu Mausi image that pops up instantly, but she did have an unusually untapped Indian sex appeal which impressed a certain fan base and film makers such as Raj Kumar Santoshi. Looking back at five roles that Meenu almost missed playing, trivia provided;
She was crowned Miss India in 1981 at age 21 and became a top league star in the 80s Bollywood. Her first major movie with the reigning superstar Amitabh Bachchan was Tinnu Anand’s Shahenshah(1988) but she was not the first or even second choice for the role. Sridevi was being desperately pursued for the role, she declined as she wanted a role parallel to Bachchan’s. Second choice Dimple happily signed the movie but was dropped for unknown reasons, it is alleged she did not even return the fifty thousand worth signing amount. So Meenu Mausi was the third and final choice for this role. Tinnu Anand has claimed in a print interview that Meenu had limitations and he would’ve been happiest with his first choice.
Sridevi who was at that time the highest paid number one heroine in Bollywood was the original choice for Yash Chopra’s Vijay(1988) as well, but she turned down the role as she did not wish to work in an ensemble cast at that time. Chopra’s second choice was Jaya Prada who had date issues and couldn’t spare dates for the Switzerland schedule( had she signed on then this would’ve been the only movie featuring Jaya with Anil Kapoor), yet again Meenu was third choice here and she looked gorgeous in chiffon dancing on screen. Chopra later clarified that Meenakshi was his choice for the role which was later played by debutant Sonam.
By the late 80s Meenu had reached the top league of A list heroines, she was signed on for Dev Anand’s Sacche ka Bol Bala(1989) in a sex symbols role which was declined by Sridevi due to the excessive body exposure involved. The same year Meenakshi was seen in Awargi(1989) in an author backed role. Dimple had been signed and unceremoniously dropped and reason provided was, the makers needed a ‘virgin’ leading lady to play the role. Sick.
The biggest loss for Meenu would’ve been losing out on the best role of her career, Damini(1993). Though she was the first choice here, during the making in 1992 Santoshi had a major follow out with Meenu and later a public showdown with Meenu’s mother. He threatened to replace her with Madhuri Dixit who was at that time on a meteoric rise. Luckily with some senior artists intervening in the matter the issue was resolved and Meenu retained. Had she been replaced it would’ve been the biggest setback for her as she’s still referred to as “Damini” by many.
She quit acting and relocated to the United States in 1996 after marrying an investment banker Harish Mysore, they have two children.
All images courtesy: Yahoo Images
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