Actor Niki Walia has revealed that she was originally set to play Neelam Mehra, the character eventually portrayed by Shefali Shah in Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do (2015).
In a recent conversation with Buzzzooka Prime, Walia recalled how she had progressed through almost every stage of the casting process before being informed that the production had made an internal decision to recast the role.
Niki Walia had completed the casting process
According to Walia, the opportunity had progressed much further than a routine audition. She said Zoya Akhtar had specifically flown her from the UK to India for the project.
She recalled completing scene readings and other casting formalities, while her cruise-work dates had already been arranged around the film.
“Woh yaha tak aakar, wapas le liya gaya mujhse. Unke apne reasons honge. But meri cruise ki dates sab fixed thi. Sab kuch ho gaya tha. Zoya Akhtar ne mujhe UK se khaas fly karke bulaya tha,” Walia said.
She further explained that the production had even taken her passport and booked the dates. At the time, she was preparing to spend two to three months on a cruise and had begun making arrangements with her family.
The casting change came just before she left
Walia said the decision changed unexpectedly. The day before she was due to leave, she received a call from Zoya Akhtar informing her that the team would not be proceeding with her.
“So, the day before I was leaving, Zoya called me and said, ‘Niki, I am really sorry, but because of an internal decision, we are not going ahead with you.’”
Although the decision was disappointing, Walia said she did not hold it against Akhtar or the film’s team.
She admitted that she still occasionally thinks about what might have happened if she had played the part.
“I always have this thought that I wish I had gotten that role. But it’s okay. What doesn’t happen, doesn’t happen. What is meant to be is what is meant to be.”
Why was Niki replaced by Shefali Shah?
Walia believes the eventual recasting may have been driven by the filmmakers’ creative interpretation of the character.
She said she personally felt she was well suited to Neelam, but suggested that the team may have wanted the character to appear more vulnerable in relation to Anil Kapoor’s Kamal Mehra.
“I felt I was completely suited to the character, but I think they made that decision creatively because they may have felt that, between my personality and Shefali’s, I perhaps came across as stronger.”
Walia added that Shefali Shah’s ability to portray emotionally vulnerable and sentimental characters may have influenced the decision.
Importantly, she described the change as a creative choice rather than a personal issue, saying she had no grounds to question the filmmakers’ decision.
At the same time, she acknowledged that missing the opportunity remains a career regret.
Shefali Shah eventually played Neelam Mehra
Released in 2015, Dil Dhadakne Do centred on the wealthy Mehra family as they embarked on a luxury cruise to celebrate the parents’ 30th wedding anniversary.
Behind their polished public image, however, Kamal and Neelam’s marriage was deeply unhappy, while their children faced their own personal and professional struggles.
The ensemble drama featured Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar in prominent roles.
For Walia, the film remains a reminder of how dramatically a casting decision can change just before production. More than a decade later, she can still imagine what her version of Neelam might have looked like — even though she accepts that the role ultimately belonged to Shefali Shah.
