Photo of Aiswarya Rai and Ashutosh Rana from shelved film Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke goes viral

A picture of Aishwarya Rai from her shelved 1996 film Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke is going viral on social media. The movie, helmed Shashilal K Nair, also starred Suniel Shetty and Ashutosh Rana.
The viral photo, shared the Instagram page Bollywood Direct, features Aishwarya and Ashutosh. In the picture, Aishwarya looks scared as she faces Ashutosh Rana’s half-man, half-animal avatar. As the photo was shared online, many netizens refused to accept that it is Ashutosh in the photo. An Instagram user wrote, “I thought it was Feroz Khan.” Another user wrote, “Raghu from Rowdies.”

Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke was shelved after its director Shashilal K Nair, who has helmed films like Parivaar (1987) and One 2 ka 4 (2001), left the movie midway. After Shashilal, Lateef Binny took the director’s chair but the film did not see the light of day.
See more photos from the sets of Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke
Aishwarya Rai in Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke. (Express Archive Photo)
Aishwarya Rai in Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke. (Express Archive Photo)
Suniel Shetty, Aishwarya Rai on the set of Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke. (Express Archive Photo)
Aishwarya Rai and Suniel Shetty in Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke. (Express Archive Photo)

While the film was being shot, Aishwarya Rai had a great time working on it. In an interview with Sify.com, she had said, “Suniel is like one of the kids. He’s very naughty. On screen we are perpetually at loggerheads, and off it too we are constantly ribbing each other. Shashi is also such a ba and very relaxed. He’s not a serious person. Work becomes a picnic with these two around.”

Ashutosh Rana will be next seen in Akshay Kumar-led Prithviraj. He also has Karan Malhotra directorial Shamshera in the pipeline. Aishwarya is awaiting the release of Mani Ratnam’s much-anticipated Ponniyin Selvan: I.