Rajpal Yadav on How He Lost a Role in Om Shanti Om Due to a Misunderstanding With Shah Rukh Khan

The actor said that he was initially supposed to play the role of Billu Barber, which was later played by Irrfan Khan, in Priyadarshan’s film. It was only much later, during a shoot of another film, that he came to know about his missed opportunity involving Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om. According to the actor, while he was working on Billu Barber, a member of the production team informed him about the issue. He recalled being told that Shah Rukh Khan wanted to collaborate with him on a more substantial role. 

He said, “Billu Barber ka pura production dekhte the Juhi Chalwa ke brother. Voh shaam ko bethe the hum toh mujhe gale mile aur bole bhai (SRK) se mil lena. Bhai aapko bahut pyaar karte hain. Jab hum Kal Ho Naa Ho main kaam kiya, toh Shah Rukh bhai ne bola tha kabhi ek lamba, koi badiya track karenge kyunki ek scene main itna maza aaya. Maine kaha main toh dupehr main hi mila tha, Unhone kaha thoda kuch confusion hai. Toh maine kaha kya? Bole voh role likhwaya tha unhone aapke liye aur voh aapne mana kardiya keh ke time nahi hai.” 

(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. When we had worked together in Kal Ho Naa Ho, Shah Rukh Khan had told me that someday we would do a longer, substantial track together because he had enjoyed doing that one scene with me so much. I said I had met him only that afternoon. Then he said there seemed to be some confusion. I asked what happened. He told me that he had specifically asked for a role to be written for me, but apparently, I had declined it, saying I did not have the time.”)  

Surprised by this shocking information, the actor said that he had immediately checked with his manager, only to find out that neither of them had any knowledge about this proposal. He said that this situation only came up due to misinformation being passed along. He further added, “Unhe bhi pata nahi tha. aur mujhe bhi nahi pata tha. Pata laga ki vahan pe kisi ne bitching karke aur Om Shanti Om ke liye meri tasveer dusri pesh kardi. Pata bhi nahi SRK ko aur mujhe bhi pata nahi. Toh yeh Bollywood hai ismein aise 10-20 kisse ho jaate hain. Aur main aur Shah Rukh Khan gale mile uske baad jaise koi lafda hi nahi.” 

(“He did not know about it, and neither did I. It turned out that someone had been bitching 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).” 

However, the actor revealed that despite the misunderstanding, it did not affect his relationship with Shah Rukh Khan in the long run.