When Deepak Tijori lost ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ to Salman Khan because of his ‘looks’ – Times of India

Actor-director Deepak Tijori has revealed that he was ‘competing neck-to-neck’ for Prem’s role in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. During a recent interview, the ‘Pehla Nasha’ actor shared that it was him and Salman khan who had auditioned for the role. Deepak also recalled the makers had said that they would like to change his name, for his profession, if he was chosen for the role.
When speaking about why he lost the role to Salman the senior actor shared that director Sooraj Barjatya later told him that after going through the audition tapes, the Barjatya family decided to cast Salman Khan despite Deepak and Salman were the only two people competing for the role of Prem. The reason for choosing Salman Khan over him was completely justified as the actor revealed the makers decided that Salman’s ‘looks’ worked better for the film and according to Deepak Tijori it was a wise decision.

‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (1989) is regarded as one of the best romantic films in Bollywood in the 90s. The film had Salman Khan and Bhagyashree in the lead alongside Alok Nath, Reema Lagoo, Mohnish Bahl, Rajeev Verma, Ajit Vachani, and Laxmikant Berde in key roles.
While he lost ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ to Salman khan, the actor became a familiar face in the 90s films playing supporting roles in hits like ‘Aashiqui’ (1990), ‘Khiladi and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ (1992), ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’ (1994), ‘Anjaam’ (1994), ‘Ghulam’ (1998) and ‘Baadshah’ (1999). Deepak made his directorial debut with ‘Oops’ (2003), and went on to make films like ‘Fareb’ and ‘Khamoshh… Khauff Ki Raat’ (2005) among others.

The actor will soon be seen in a romantic drama ‘Ittar’ opposite Rituparna Sengupta.