Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan had once formed quite a hit pair on screen courtesy movies like 'Devdas', 'Josh' and 'Mohabbatein'. However, things turned sour on the sets of 'Chalte Chalte', where Aishwarya was the first choice, only to be later replaced by Rani Mukerji. As per reports, Salman Khan frequently began creating a ruckus on sets of 'Chalte Chalte' as his relationship with his 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' costar had hit extremely choppy waters. Word is that, Salman getting physical with Aishwarya was the last straw, leaving Shah Rukh with little choice but to replace Aish with Rani Mukerji, which left the former quite miffed.
Apparently though, it wasn't just 'Chalte Chalte', but a total five movies that SRK is said to have replaced Aishwarya from opposite him, one of which is said to be 'Veer-Zaara', with Preity Zinta later stepping in. While all the movies aren't known, Aish did open up about it to Simi Garewal on her chat show, Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, where she had said, “Yes at that time there were discussions about some such films that we were going to do together but then suddenly something happened that I was thrown out of those films. I don't even know why this happened? At that time you do not even have any answer. For a while you just keep wondering why this happened. If someone feels that he should answer, then he answers, if he does not want to answer then it is clear that he never wanted it. I don't even go to ask anyone why I did this, it is not in me. By the grace of God others don't tell me what I am.”
Years later though, at Karan Johar’s birthday party in 2009, Shah Rukh was said to have apologized to Aishwarya for not having helped her during her crisis and she gracefully forgave him, after which both of them, along with their spouses, Gauri Khan and Abhishek Bachchan, headed back to Mannat (King Khan's and Gauri’s palatial dream home) and partied till the wee hours of the morning.
