Bollywood actor Sneha Ullal made her debut opposite Salman Khan in Lucky: No Time for Love. She grabbed headlines at the time, as many felt she closely resembled Aishwarya Rai, with some even labelling her a doppelganger. In a recent podcast with AlphaNeon Studioz, Sneha addressed these comparisons, revealing that they never bothered her.
Sneha Ullal recalls her first meeting with Aishwarya Rai
Sneha spoke about her experience working with Salman, sharing that he was supportive and patient throughout the shoot and never displayed any “superstar attitude”. She also addressed speculation that she was cast because of her resemblance to Aishwarya, attributing such rumours to PR activity.
She said, “Obviously, I was coming in with Salman Khan, so people would recognise me like that, but it never bothered me because I was very young and had no ego. I have never been beauty-conscious, so these comparisons didn’t affect me.”
She further shared that when Aishwarya rose to fame after winning Miss World, she, too, became known in her own circle because people said she resembled her. “I met Aishwarya once, and she said, ‘Welcome to the family. Welcome to Bollywood,’ something like that. I told her, ‘I’m sorry, please don’t hate me.’ There was so much comparison in the media at that time, I didn’t know if she took offence,” she added.
About Lucky: No Time for Love
The 2005 romantic drama was directed by Radhika Rao and Vijay Sapru, and told the story of two lovers in war-torn Russia. Apart from Salman and Sneha, the film also starred Mithun Chakraborty, Kader Khan, Navni Parihar, Ravi Baswani and Vikram Gokhale. Made on a budget of ₹14 crore, it was an average grosser, earning ₹27.81 crore worldwide.
Following her debut, Sneha went on to work in several Hindi and Telugu films, including Aryan, Ullasamga Utsahamga, Nenu Meeku Telusa? and Madatha Kaja. Most recently, she was seen in Nilakanta, directed by Rakesh Madhavan, which also featured Master Mahendran, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Ramki and Babloo Prithiveeraj in supporting roles.
About Aishwarya Rai’s recent work
Aishwarya, on the other hand, has been away from the big screen for some time. She was last seen in Mani Ratnam’s 2023 film Ponniyin Selvan II. The film, which also featured Karthi, Vikram, Trisha Krishnan and Sobhita Dhulipala, was well received and earned over ₹344 crore worldwide.
