New Delhi: Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda starrer film 'Highway', released in 2014, was directed by Imtiaz Ali. This film was one of the best films of Alia's career and after seeing her acting in it, the audience praised the actress a lot. However, very few people would be aware that she was not the filmmaker's first choice for the role of Veera.

In an interview, Imtiaz revealed that he had originally envisioned a mature woman for the lead role instead of a young actress like Alia . However, his meeting with Bhatt at the screening of 'Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana' changed the director's mind.

The director wanted to cast this actress

Alia played the role of Veera in 'Highway' and the director could have cast Aishwarya Rai for this role first. In an interview with Mid Day, she shared that her emotional strength was immense and I was very impressed after talking to her.

Further, she said that as she started talking about deep subjects like home and society, her true understanding started getting revealed to the director. Then he realised that the emotional depth that he needed for Veera could also be portrayed by the young girl in front of him.

Aishwarya would have been a good choice

Speaking further, Imtiaz said that he wanted to cast an older actress for this role. In such a situation, it was quite possible that she could have been Aishwarya Rai. However, after meeting Alia, the director did not contact anyone. Ali said that Aishwarya Rai without makeup would have been a good choice, but I did not contact anyone.