They say that one man's loss is another man's gain. This has been proven time and again in the film industry where actors have often left projects for certain reasons and the films have not only gone to other actors but also become box office hits.
If sources are to be believed, then Parineeti Chopra was offered Shoojit Sircar's 'Piku' but she choose Habib Faisal's 'Daawat-e-Ishq' instead. While Piku has been doing very well at the box office, the latter proved to be a box office dud. Apparently, Parineeti was under a contract with Yashraj, which is why she couldn't accept Shoojit's offer. Her last release, 'Kill Dil', failed to make an impact and had Parineeti been a part of 'Piku', it might have proved be the turning point of her career.
We look at other actors who made bad career choices:
Shah Rukh Khan
King Khan was offered Talaash but he chose YRF's 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' over it and the role went to Aamir Khan. While both films did average business at the box-office, Aamir's performance in 'Talaash' won him a lot of appreciation. Apparently, SRK had also said no to 'Munnabhai MBBS' and the role went to Sanjay Dutt, which became a big franchise later. Also, if reports are to be believed, Shah Rukh had also turned down '3 idiots'.
Salman Khan
The actor made a wrong choice when he turned down 'Chak De' which was later offered to Shah Rukh Khan. The film did set the cash registers ringing at the box office.
Kajol
Kajol was offered '3 idiots' but she refused to be a part of it as the role didn't excite her. The part went to Kareena Kapoor and the film went on to become a huge box-office success.
Shahid Kapoor
Shahid refused 'Rajneeti' and Ranbir Kapoor came on board. At that time, Shahid apparently felt that the bigger names in the film will overshadow him. Whatever his reason may be, the film went on to do a swell business at the box office. Apparently, the actor had also refused 'Bang Bang', 'Raanjhanaa' and 'Shudh Desi Romance'.
Jacqueline Fernandez
Jacqueline was offered 'Krrish 2' but the actress had apparently turned it down because of a lip lock scene with Hrithik Roshan in the film. She was shooting for 'Housefull 2' at that time and the buzz doing the rounds was that Jacqueline was under the influence of Sajid Khan and he asked her to not get intimate with Hrithik on screen.
Ranbir Kapoor
Ranbir refused to be a part of 'Delhi Belly' because of its bold content and the makers later signed Imran Khan for the project. The Aamir Khan production went on to receive critical acclaim. The actor also declined 'Band Baaja Baraat' as he had issues with YRF and the film kickstarted Ranveer Singh's career. There were also rumours suggesting that Ranbir was offered 'Ram Leela'.
Katrina Kaif
Katrina turned down 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' and opted for 'Dhoom: 3' instead. While 'Dhoom: 3' was a hit, Katrina had a miniscule role in the film. On the other hand, not only did 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' become a huge success, Deepika Padukone received much appreciation for her performance from critics and audiences alike. Katrina was also offered Ileana D'Cruz's role in 'Barfi' but the actress refused that as well.
Kareena Kapoor Khan
She is known to court controversy time and again. In addition to turning down films like 'Queen', 'Chennai Express', 'Fashion' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho' saying that the roles didn't 'interest' her, the actress' comment on passing on roles to other actresses invited much fury from her contemporaries. However, she claims that she doesn't regret her decisions. Regret or not, the aforementioned films did turn out to be big box office hits.
While she refused to be a part of these films, Bebo couldn't do 'Ram Leela' as she chose to do 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein' instead. At the time when she turned down Sanjay Leela Bhansali's offer and the role went to Deepika Padukone, speculations were rife that Bebo refused to be a part of the project because SLB had a 'No pregnancy' clause in the contract. However, the result of Bebo's decision was for everyone to see yet again. While 'Ram Leela' proved to be a box-office hit, 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein' failed to draw audiences to theatres.