Piyush Mishra on why he's glad he didn't do Salman Khan's role in Maine Pyar Kiya: Couldn't have handled the stardom

Actor Piyush Mishra was in talks with Rajshri Films to play the lead role of Prem in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), eventually nabbed by Salman Khan.

It's now a well known piece of trivia that Salman Khan's role of Prem in Sooraj Barjatya's 1989 directorial debut Maine Pyar Kiya, that made him an overnight star, was first offered to actor Piyush Mishra. He was in the third year at the Film & Television Institute of India when Rajshri Films was considering him for the part. Now, in an interview with Times Now, Piyush explained why he's glad that he didn't end up doing it. (Also Read: Salman Khan quits Bigg Boss OTT for film shoot; Anil Kapoor steps in as host)

Salman Khan's role in Maine Pyar Kiya was first offered to Piyush Mishra

What Piyush said

“It wasn’t that I had become a star or I had landed that part. It was an early discussion, and I was majorly considered by Sooraj Barjatya’s father (Raj Kumar Barjatya) He had come to meet me; he didn’t cast me as such. I was in third year when this had happened. It wasn’t that big a deal at all, I don’t know why it was blown out of proportion, that I was just on the brink of becoming a star but then couldn’t,” said Piyush.

He even revealed that he was asked by a lot of people around him to use this as an opportunity to play the victim gard and get publicity. “They wanted me to claim the role was taken away from me. But that isn’t true. I went on to work a lot after that. If by chance I had landed the opportunity, I would have bagged that big a chance prematurely, at an age when I was perhaps not ready mentally, physically or emotionally. I was a 26-year-old boy then, I could not have handled the success. Mera dimaag ud jaata (my mind would've blown). I would not have been to handle that kind of stardom, and I accept it. I was not ready for it, so it is good this didn’t happen with me,” he added.

About Maine Pyar Kiya

Maine Pyar Kiya, backed by Rajshri Films, served as the launchpad of both Salman and Bhagyashree. The film was a huge success at the box office and turned its lead actors into stars overnight. Meanwhile, Piyush went on to do films like Dil Se, Maqbool, Gulaal, Rockstar, Gangs of Wasseypur, Tamasha, and Pink. He'll be next seen in Indian 2.