If all had gone according to Mani Ratnam’s plans, it would be Shah Rukh Khan and not Abhishek Bachchan that people would have watched in Ravan! News is that Ratnam had written the script for the bi-lingual movie Ravan with Shah Rukh in mind. Lead actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had also recommended Shah Rukh for the role. The actor was approached and a meeting was set. Unfortunately, as things turned out a long delay following the initial discussion led to Shah Rukh signing on for Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

The actor confirmed it recently and said that he had very much wanted to do a project with Ratnam. Their last big project together had been Dil Se. It was also around this time that King Khan had decided against 3 Idiots, and the talks for Robot with Shankar had reached a dead end. Previously, Shah Rukh was first choice to Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar, which also didn’t pan out for the star. But King Khan is hardly worried given that he has his hands full with numerous projects for the coming year.