According to ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar’s memoir, his assistant Monia Sehgal spotted Aishwarya Rai at Kakkar’s office and urged him to test her. A makeup and camera test—especially the wet-look styling and Rai’s eyes—convinced him she could make a striking impression in a very brief appearance. Kakkar showed stills to Pepsi representatives, who approved her for the role of Sanju, opposite Aamir Khan.
How Aishwarya Rai came to Kakkar’s attention
Kakkar’s memoir says two architecture students came to his office to meet Mitali and show their work. One of them had brought a friend: Rai, then a student. Kakkar describes her arriving in a kurti, distressed jeans and work chappals, carrying a jhola. His assistant, Monia Sehgal, noticed the tall, green-eyed visitor and thought she could be right for the commercial. She brought Kakkar to meet her and pressed him to consider a test. Kakkar’s memoir excerpt in Scroll is the most detailed account of this encounter.
Why the camera test changed Kakkar’s mind
Kakkar says Rai’s eyes first caught his attention. At Sehgal’s urging, he agreed to test her. The makeup test used a light touch and wet-look styling; Kakkar recalls that the camera revealed how strongly her bone structure read on screen. He then showed Pepsi representatives two stills, one with Rai’s hair open and another with the wet look. In his account, the representatives approved the stills before filming.
The casting brief was built around a fleeting appearance. In a 2025 interview with ANI, reported by NDTV, Kakkar said Rai would appear for about four seconds and needed to be a “stopper”—someone viewers would notice and ask about. That is Kakkar’s recollection of the creative aim, rather than a measured audience target.
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Why Aamir Khan fit the commercial
Kakkar’s explanation for casting Khan was separate from Rai’s discovery. He said Khan’s role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak had already established a clean, approachable screen persona. For a 30–60-second commercial, Kakkar felt, the audience should not have to learn a character from scratch. He said Shah Rukh Khan was considered, but did not fit that particular character as naturally at the time. These are Kakkar’s retrospective judgments about the casting, reported by The Indian Express and in its 2024 report.
What Kakkar recalled about filming
The doorway scene was a challenge for both the director and Rai, according to Kakkar’s memoir. In a later account reported by The Indian Express, Kakkar described her as raw and recalled her uncertainty about performing a flirtatious exchange she had not experienced. His memoir says she found her way into the scene after direction and a few additional takes. The Indian Express report quotes Kakkar saying it took about 18 takes.
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How long did the casting search take?
Kakkar’s later accounts do not agree on the duration. NDTV’s 2025 report of his ANI interview gives three months; The Indian Express’s 2025 report gives four months. Neither figure is settled by the available accounts, so the safest conclusion is simply that Kakkar recalled a lengthy search before Rai was selected.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about the ad’s response—and what remains anecdotal
Kakkar told ANI, as reported by NDTV, that he received 5,000 calls the morning after the commercial’s release asking who Sanju was. This is his retrospective anecdote, not an independently verified call count or audience survey. The available accounts rely on Kakkar’s memoir and interviews; they do not establish the story through a contemporaneous casting sheet or production log.
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The commercial’s date is also described inconsistently: 2025 reports identify it as filmed in 1993, while the caption accompanying the Scroll memoir excerpt calls it a 1995 Pepsi commercial. The casting account does not require a definitive year, so it is best understood without treating either date as conclusive.
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