Jennifer Lawrence, who turns 32 on Monday August 15, is one of the most famous actresses of her generation. She was just 22 when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress and then starred in some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies in the years that followed. But did you know that very early in her career, Jennifer reportedly made her Bollywood debut, and that too opposite Sushant Singh Rajput. Read also : Sushant Singh Rajput cried a lot when he found out Paani had been left out, says Shekhar Kapur
Do you remember Shekhar Kapur’s Paani? The ambitious sci-fi adventure film was conceptualized by the filmmaker years ago. At the turn of the last decade things started to move for the film and in 2013 the director said that Sushant Singh Rajput had signed on for the male lead role. The following year, rumors began circulating that Oscar-winning Jennifer Lawrence had been cast alongside Sushant in the film. Naturally, the news generated immense excitement among moviegoers.
Paani was supposed to take place in a waterless world, focusing on a pair of young lovers navigating the hellish landscape. While Sushant’s arrival on board had been confirmed by the actor and filmmaker, news of Jennifer’s involvement, then 23, was never confirmed. In January 2014, a Bollywood Life report quoted an “insider” as saying, “Paani will be an expensive film. The budget would be close to ₹150 crores. To justify that kind of money, the film will have to do well all over the world, and not just in India. Getting someone like Jennifer will ensure the film attracts international eyeballs as well. The report adds that Shekhar Kapur always wanted to cast a Hollywood actor in the film and focused on Jennifer due to her popularity in India and her acting skills.
However, less than a week later, Shekhar put all speculation to rest as he denied that Jennifer was in the film. In fact, he said she hadn’t even been approached. “Jennifer Lawrence has not been approached for Paani. Just to clear up rumours,” Shekhar tweeted on January 8, 2014.
In the end, Paani never got caught. Yash Raj Films, the film’s production house, backtracked after three months of preparation and pre-production work. In 2020, a month after Sushant’s death, Shekhar opened up about the film’s cancellation and Sushant’s reaction in an Instagram Live with Manoj Bajpayee. “When the movie was shelved and he realized he wasn’t making the movie, he cried a lot. I cried too. I cried every time he cried because I was also passionately and deeply involved in it,” he said.
Jennifer continued to appear in the X-Men and Hunger Games franchises, which she had previously starred in. She also starred in films like Joy and Mother, for which she received her third and fourth Oscar nominations. The actor went on hiatus in 2019 and returned with the satire Don’t Look Up, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. She will next be seen in the psychological drama Causeway, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.