Director Sohan Roy admits that he originally wanted Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to star in his 3D film, Dam 999. “Her father and brother are both mariners. So I was keen on getting her for my film, and her office even accepted the script. But due to delay in Raavan’s (2010) shoot, she couldn’t provide us the dates we were to go on floor.”
Made in Hinglish (combination of Hindi and English), Tamil and Telugu, the film talks about the enticements, adventures and agony that a mariner faces when at the ocean.
Aishwarya RaiA tribute to the 2,50,000 people who died in the 1975 Bangiao dam disaster in China, the film was earlier slated to have Ash represent Karuna Rasa (compassion). He adds, “To balance her stardom, actors like Madhavan, Preity Zinta etc were also considered to represent other rasas. Since the shooting of Raavan got prolonged, Aishwarya was not in a position to spare us dates as per our schedule, so we had to change the entire cast.”
Roy elaborates further, “I must admit, if she was part of the project, it would have added to the international appeal.” The cast now is a combination of Indian and international stars like Rajit Kapur, Joshua Fredric Smith, Linda Arsenio, Gary Richardson, Jaala Pickering, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vinay Rai, Vimala Raman and Megha Burman.
Made at a cost of Rs 45 crore, the film boasts of some very expensive sequences. Sohan reveals, “We built a couple of miniature dams in 60 days with 50 artists working on it. It took just three seconds and 30,000 litres to destroy the dam for the climax sequence. The destruction of the dam was shot with six different camera angles, and hydrogen cylinders were used to open the doors and gush out the water with immense pressure to destroy the miniature dam.”
Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Ash-was-first-choice-for-Dam-999-Sohan-Roy/Article1-774226.aspx