Bhansali Changed Aishwarya Rai's Saree in Devdas' Climax 12 Hrs Before Shoot: 'Nobody Had It'

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali delivered one of the best climaxes in the history of Bollywood with Devdas. The grand climax scene continues to break hearts, regardless of how many times we watch it. The breathtaking scene featured a heartbroken Paro (Aishwarya Rai) running through the hallways of her mansion with her pallu on fire with the hope to see a glimpse of her dying lover, played by Shah Rukh Khan. As grand as the scene could be, it has been revealed that Bhansali made a massive change just a night before it was to be filmed.

Devdas’ costume designer Neeta Lulla revealed that Bhansali asked her if they could change the saree Aishwarya was supposed to originally wear in the climax scene of Devdas. She said he wanted two 15 meters long sarees for the scene and wanted it within 12 hours.

“He told me, ‘I just visualised her (Paro) running down the stairs with her pallu burning, and I need a 15 meter long silk saree for the flutter. I need two of these sarees because if one burns, we have another,’” Neeta told YouTube channel Wiping Out The Norm.

While she knew she could make it happen, she knew she had to work quick. “This was all happening at the Goregaon studio. We didn’t have mobiles at the time; we only had pagers. In front of me, he called Aishwarya Rai and Kirron Kher to ask if they had two such identical puja sarees. All this time, I kept asking him if I could leave. They soon realized nobody had it. By this time, it was 10:30 at night. Sanjay asked me if he could shoot the next day. I said, ‘Of course’ and left the studio,” she recalled.

The shop which had the saree was made to open at midnight. “He came at 12 or 12:30 to open the shop. I got the fabric, and since I had already called my embroidery team, they had already started stitching the borders. We finished the sarees at six in the morning, and I reached the set at 9:30 when the shooting began,” she added.

The result: an iconic moment in the history of Bollywood! Devdas released in 2002 with SRK, Aishwarya, Madhuri Dixit and Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles.