When Shah Rukh Khan suggested Divya Dutta’s name to Mani Ratnam for Dil Se: ‘I showed up on set to meet him…’

Divya Dutta recently opened up in an interview about the time when she landed up on the sets of Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se.. (1998) to get the director’s number from Shah Rukh Khan. She wanted to be part of the film and during that time, Shah Rukh and she had the same manager, who told her to meet him during the film’s shooting at Connaught Place, Delhi.

In a conversation with Siddharth Kanna for his YouTube channel, Divya recalled, “I wanted to do the film, and Shah Rukh and I had the same manager at that time. He suggested that I show up on set and ask him to get Mani Ratnam’s number. I didn’t have a mobile phone then, so I landed up at Connaught Place exactly when I was told to, and watched from the side as they filmed a a chase scene. Thousands of people had gathered to get a glimpse of Shah Rukh, there wasn’t an inch of space to stand on.”

However, due to the crowd, she felt that there was no chance that she could even get a glimpse of him from close, let alone talk to him. Just when she was leaving, someone approached her and took her to a parked car at some distance. It was Shah Rukh’s temporary vanity van. She said, “He opened the door for me and held my hand… Such a ladies’ man he is. He asked how he could help, and I told him that I really want to do the film. He asked if I’d like some coffee, and told me that he would convey my message to Mani Ratnam. ‘That’s all I can do,’ he said. The crowd was right outside, screaming his name, rocking the car.”

After that, Divya was able to meet Mani Ratnam; however, she was not cast in the film as the director felt that she resembled Manisha Koirala who was playing the lead role in it and that they looked like sisters of each other. Divya later worked with Shah Rukh in Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara (2004).

She was last seen in Sharmajee Ki Beti, which was the directorial debut of Tahira Kashyap Khurrana. It was released on Prime Video on June 27.