Rajpal Yadav unknowingly ‘rejected’ Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om over a mix-up: 'I was presented negatively'

With Bhooth Bangla gearing up for release, Rajpal Yadav is stepping back into the spotlight, but it’s an old Bollywood mix-up that has caught attention again.

In a conversation with Zoom, the actor opened up about a long-standing misunderstanding that left him briefly believing he had upset Shah Rukh Khan. What followed, he says, was a classic case of crossed wires in an industry where communication can sometimes get lost in translation.

The actor also reflected on how he had once been lined up for key projects, only for things to shift unexpectedly, one of them being Billu Barber, where Irrfan Khan eventually stepped in. But it was the Om Shanti Om episode that stood out in his memory.

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He said, "The entire production of Billu Barber was being handled by Juhi Chawla’s brother. One evening, he met me, hugged me, and said, 'You should meet bhai. He loves you a lot.' He also recalled Kal Ho Naa Ho, adding that Shah Rukh Khan had once told him they should do a longer, substantial track together in the future because he had enjoyed working with him in that one scene.

“I told him I had only met Shah Rukh Khan that afternoon. He then said there seemed to be some confusion. I asked what happened, and he told me that Shah Rukh Khan had specifically asked for a role to be written for me, but I had apparently turned it down, saying I didn’t have the time.”

Wanting clarity, Yadav even reached out to his manager to understand what had happened behind the scenes.

He said, "He did not know about it, and neither did I. It turned out that someone had been creating problems there, and I was presented negatively in front of Shah Rukh bhai for Om Shanti Om. Neither Shah Rukh Khan knew about it, nor did I. So this is Bollywood, 10 to 20 such incidents happen here. After that, Shah Rukh Khan and I hugged it out as if there had never been any issue at all."

Helmed by Priyadarshan, Bhooth Bangla brings together an ensemble cast featuring Akshay Kumar, Wamiqa Gabbi, Tabu and Paresh Rawal in key roles. The horror-comedy also marks a long-awaited reunion between Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar after more than a decade. The film is set to hit theatres on April 17, with paid previews scheduled to begin from April 16 at 9 pm.