Who must Willard Carroll thank for Ali Larter saying ‘yes’ to his Marigold opposite Salman Khan? A nameless Indian woman who sat next to Ali on a flight when she was still undecided about signing up!

Salman had given Willard a free hand in auditioning and casting his leading lady. And Willard didn’t want to say too much about Salman’s star status in Bollywood as it would be lost on Hollywood actresses.

When Willard approached Ali Larter she said she would first read the script. Soon after they met, she was flying to France and started reading the script on the flight. Next to her was an Indian lady who started chatting with Ali. The actress casually asked her if she knew of anyone called Salman Khan. That did it! The woman turned out to be a huge fan of Salman and she went on and on and on about how good an actor he was and what a big star he was in India. That was that. Ali said yes to Marigold.