Aishwarya Rai said no to prem sagar to act in alif laila

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By Team Bollyy
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alif laila

Jyothi Venkatesh

What a wonderful and awesome book my dear friend Prem Sagar, who is none other Ramanand Sagar’s cinematographer son, has written- An Epic Life Ramanand Sagar-From Barsaat to Ramayan. I read the informative book which traces the life and times of Ramananad Sagar from Page 1 to the last- Page 277 during the lockdown in just about five days.

Prem Sagar, do you know had even approached Aishwarya Rai to play the role of Scheherazade in his popular fantasy serial Alif Laila (Arabian Nights) way back in 1994 when she had just been crowned Miss World and Prem Sagar thought that she would readily accept his offer since it was from the house of Ramanand Sagar who had made a epic serial like Ramayan.

However, as Prem has written in his book, Aishwarya Rai had politely declined to accept the offer, saying that she wanted at that time to just focus on films as she was very focused on her career and future. It was Seema Kanwal who ultimately played the role of Scheherazade in the serial after Aishwarya Rai declined to do the same.

The series started with Scheherazade telling stories to Shahryar (Emperor). continued till the 260th episode. Prem Sagar’s father Ramaand Sagar was the director of this show. It was broadcast on television from 1993 to 2002. The star cast of the show were Seema Kanwal (Seherzade), Girija Shankar (Sultan Shahriyar) and Shah Nawaz (Sindbad).The series which continued Adventures of Haroun al-Raschid, Caliph of Baghdad, The Story of the Blind Baba-Abdalla, The Story of Sidi-Nouman, The Story of Two Brothers: Talib and Jamal, The Story of Three Brothers etc.

This show was made with different adventures from the stories of the Arabic novel “Thousand and One nights”. The stories were The Merchant and the Genie, The Old Man and the Two Black Dogs, The Old Man and the Goat, The Fisherman, The Greek King and the Physician Douban, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, Prince Jalal Talib and The Three Pearls.

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