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Mahira Khan will make her Bollywood debut next week alongside Shahrukh Khan in Raees. Although the gorgeous actress has been barred from promoting the movie in India and even Dubai, Raees' trailers and songs have already won her a huge fan base in the country. Here are some cool facts about the actress – find out why she got 'ragged' on the Raees sets, who her favourite Bollywood actress is and what happened the first time she met Shahrukh: (YouTube)
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One of Mahira's favourite actresses is Madhuri Dixit. In fact, it was Madhuri's role in Ram Lakhan that inspired Mahira to go into acting, according to a report in Bollywood Hungama. (Twitter)
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When Mahira first told her family that she had bagged the role of Shahrukh Khan's leading lady, her mother refused to believe her, while her father took to Google to try and verify what she was saying. (Twitter)
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In an interview, Mahira said that her role in Raees wasn't challenging, but working with Shahrukh Khan was. She added that SRK was the hardest-working actor she had met and despite his health problems and impending knee surgery, he stood for hours on end for shoots. (YouTube)
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Mahira began her career as a VJ and rose to fame with her show Weekends With Mahira. (Twitter)
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On the Raees sets, the cast and crew were amused that Mahira used “aap”, no matter who she was addressing. Apparently, this is a common practice in Pakistan, but Mahira's Bollywood friends did put her through some good-natured ragging for it. (Twitter)
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Upon meeting Shahrukh for the first time, Mahira recalled that she opted to greet him with 'Hello' because she felt it sounded more neutral. She said, “I went to him and I said, 'Hello,' and he said, 'Assalamualaikum.' I thought, 'How could I not say, Assalamualaikum? That's my thing. I am from Pakistan. Why did I not do that?'” (YouTube)
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In an interview, the actress revealed that she was in the middle of a promotion when she got the call for Raees. For this reason, she refused to pick up the phone, even though it rung many times. Finally, she got a message, “Big film. Pick up.” She then took the call more out of amusement before she got the big news. (YouTube)
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When the producers first met Mahira to tell her about the plot, they didn't tell her she would be working with Shahrukh. When they confirmed her role, they told her about SRK. Ever the professional, Mahira still said, “Can you send me the script?” The producers were shocked that she would even care about the script after she heard Shahrukh's name. Mahira insisted, “I know, I love him, but can you send me the script?” They obliged and Mahira eventually took the role. (YouTube)
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In 2007, Mahira married her friend Ali Askari – the pair had known each other since she was 14. In an interview, Mahira recalled that when Ali first saw her, he liked her instantly. (YouTube)
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Some of Mahira's favourite B-town filmmakers include Vishal Bhardwaj and Imtiaz Ali. She also said she wanted to meet the late Guru Dutt in heaven. (Twitter)