This is just as applicable in the "who is the bigger star" thread but Rani has never once caused a fervor in the audience the way Aishwarya still does in her films. Case example, this re-release of Mohabbatein from just a month or two ago. It's been 24 years since the film came out and audiences still go crazy over Aish's appearance.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3h9I2HPkbP
And if anyone wants to flashback to year 2000, read this excellent comment on the video about Aish's popularity in concern to Mohabbatein.
"lesser known fact about Mohabbatein is Aishwarya Rai role is just a cameo appearance and not included in any promo or trailer before the movie have been released. The team want to focus on the first screen between 2 Mega Stars, Shahrukh & Amitabh, and focusing on the 6 newcomers. and everything change 360 degree when the movie just been released as peeps are more excited about her appearance in the movie until the Director have to included her name and face in the upcoming material batch of production (such as poster, DVD, VCD, VHS, CD, Cassete cover and many more). She even been nominated as Best Supporting Actress in Filmfare"
The only other contemporary actress I've seen cause people to go wild like this is Deepika. I still remember when Zero came out, on Instagram there were videos circulating of audience reactions to each actress in the cameo scene and Deepika was the one getting the loudest applause and cheers always. Not your Rani, even with Kajol boosting her, since Kajol has historically always been more popular with audiences.
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