Upasana Singh reveals why she lost ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ to Bhagyashree after being selected: ‘I was taller than Salman Khan’

Actress Upasana Singh, known for her comic roles in films and television, recently opened up about a casting episode that left her hurt for years. She claimed that she was selected to play the female lead in Sooraj Barjatya’s 1989 blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya, a role that eventually went to Bhagyashree and launched her to stardom.

How the audition happened

Upasana shared the story in a video interview with Galatta India on YouTube. She said that as a young girl studying in Chandigarh, she had always wanted to become an actress. Whenever she visited Mumbai, she would make it a point to meet directors and producers.

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During one such visit, she met a person she referred to as Gupta ji, who managed work for Sooraj Barjatya. He informed her that Rajshri Productions was working on a film called Maine Pyar Kiya and offered to arrange a meeting with Barjatya.

Upasana told Gupta ji that she had been doing theatre since childhood and was serious about acting. The meeting with Sooraj Barjatya followed. She recalled that it was not a formal audition. Barjatya asked her to deliver just three to four dialogues. He liked what he saw. She said Barjatya then told Gupta ji that she was selected from his side.

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The call that never came

After the informal selection, Barjatya also wanted Upasana to meet his father, Rajkumar Barjatya, who headed Rajshri Productions. That meeting, however, did not lead anywhere for her.

Upasana said the promised follow-up call never came. The film went into production without her. Bhagyashree was cast opposite Salman Khan, and Maine Pyar Kiya released in 1989 to massive commercial success.

Upasana chose to keep quiet about the whole episode. She said she had not told anyone that she had been selected for the film, because the experience felt deeply insulting to her. For a long time after its release, she refused to watch the film. She admitted that the hurt stayed with her.

The Switzerland revelation

Years later, Upasana worked with Sooraj Barjatya again on the 2003 romantic film Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon. During the shoot in Switzerland, Rajkumar Barjatya, Sooraj’s father, brought up the Maine Pyar Kiya episode in front of the entire cast and crew.

Upasana said she was not expecting this. Rajkumar Barjatya told everyone present that she had been the first choice for the film. The revelation shocked people on set. They began asking why she had not been cast.

Until that moment, Upasana had held herself back from confronting anyone about it. But hearing it said out loud, in front of everyone, broke her restraint. She turned to Rajkumar Barjatya and asked him directly why she had been rejected.

The height reason

His explanation was that she was taller than Salman Khan. That was the reason given for not casting her.

Upasana pushed back immediately. She pointed out that veteran actress Sridevi was also taller than Salman Khan, yet the two had worked together in films. She told him not to give her a reason she could not accept.

Rajkumar Barjatya then offered a second argument. He said that even if Upasana had been cast, she would have left the industry early, just as Sridevi had stepped back from films after her marriage.

Upasana said that response made her feel even worse. She found it dismissive and unfair. The idea that a production decision could be made based on an assumption about a woman’s future choices struck her as deeply unjust.

The pain she carried

Recalling the moment during the interview, Upasana said she had felt extremely bad. She acknowledged that Maine Pyar Kiya was a remarkable film. But she said she could not bring herself to watch it for a long time after it released.

She went as far as saying that had she gone to watch the film in a theatre, she might have reacted badly toward Bhagyashree out of sheer frustration. However, she was quick to add that Bhagyashree performed very well and deserved the role. But Upasana maintained that she herself deserved it more.

She also mentioned that Salman Khan was aware of the backstory.