Shankar's Robot was one of the most expensive movies in India with huge star cast and mindblowing VFX, colourful costumes and exotic song locations like Machu Picchu in Peru, etc. Superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai played the main characters of the movie. But, did you know that before Rajinikanth was roped in, Kamal Haasan was first approached and then Shah Rukh Khan? In fact Aishwarya Rai Bachchan too had rejected the movie initially. 

According to reports, published in Filmibeat Kamal Haasan and Preity Zinta were the first choices for Shankar's Robot. But owing to creative disagreements, Kamal dropped out of the movie, and Shankar roped in King Khan for the same role.

 

Image result for Kamal Haasan as robot

However, that also fell through. Khan reportedly sent back the script with lots of corrections and even gave it a twist that didn't go well with Shankar. That’s not all Shah Rukh wanted the CG to be done by Red Chillies VFX in his studio. Whereas, Sankar had planned to work with Hollywood's Stan Winston studios. 

Shankar, who was hell-bent on making the movie in his own terms and ways, ended the project’s journey with King Khan.  

 

Image result for shah rukh khan robot

Aishwarya Rai first rejected Robot because of date issues and therefore Shankar roped in Preity Zinta. After a few years, when Shankar restarted that project with Rajinikanth, he again approached Aishwarya Rai. And this time she said yes, and the result we know. Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai created history with Robot/Enthiran. 

According to reports, Aishwarya Rai was paid Rs 6 crore for her role in Robot, which was a huge amount.

At the 58th National Film Awards, Robot/Enthiran won the award for Best Special Effects and Best Production Design. It won in three categories at the the 58th Filmfare Awards South for Best Cinematographer, Best Art Director and Best Costume Design.

 

Image result for aishwarya rai and rajini in robot

Last year, the sequel of Robot was released featuring Rajini, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. Sudhanshu Pandey, Adil Hussain, Kalabhavan Shajohn, and K Ganesh appear in supporting roles. The film crossed ₹520 crore in its opening weekend and it was touted to be the highest-grossing film worldwide for that week. 2.0 is the second highest-grossing film in India and is the fifth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide.