Bollywood’s cult classic, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH), celebrated 20 years Tuesday with a big bash hosted by its director Karan Johar. The lead cast of the film including Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Kajol, were present at the event. Salman Khan who also played an integral role in the film was part of the celebrations via video calling.
SRK, Rani and Kajol recalled their fondest memories of the film and its shoot on the occasion, which had several Bollywood A-listers including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, Neha Dhupia and Manish Malhotra in attendance.
Speaking at the event, Shah Rukh Khan shared that initially Karan narrated a “crap story” but he signed the film because of the conviction of the director.
“I never listen to scripts, I listen to the heartbeats of the people I work with at times millennial chat with me and say things like why you let go of that script that was such a great script. Till date, I never understood a script. And I can say this with confidence that I never understood the script but the script maker or the filmmaker,” Shah Rukh said.
He continued, “Karan came and narrated an utterly nonsense crap story to me; which is certainly not the one that finally you people saw in the film. In his strange way Karan, the man with many words tried to impress me with his crap story. So yes, I really did not understand the story when I signed in. and I am glad that I did not get into the story and just went ahead with the conviction of Karan, otherwise the film would have not been the way it came out.”
Rani narrated how Shah Rukh’s first son, Aryan, was born right after they finished shooting the song Koi Mil Gaya. She said she remembers playing with Aryan after shoots. She also recalled how Karan would snatch plates of food off her hands on the sets to keep her from gaining weight for a particular scene in the film.
Salman Khan recalled how he ended up being a part of the film and asked Karan to work with him again.
“Karan met my sister Alvira and he told her that ‘It’s my first film and I have signed Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. There is a small but important role for which I am looking for a star but I am not finding any star to play that part’,” Salman shared. “So my sister Alvira told me that ‘He is a really good guy. It’s his first film and you should help him in his first film’. After that, Karan Johar met me at party that time, I told him that I will do it for my sister, Yash (Johar) uncle, Hiroo (Johar) aunty, and Shah Rukh, and that’s how I became a part of the film.”
Other members of the film fraternity also shared their thoughts on the film.
Varun Dhawan’s revealed how it was Salman’s entry in the film with the song Sajanji Ghar Aaye that motivated him to become an actor.
While sharing the story of how rejecting the film was one of the best contributions from her end to make the film a super hit, Twinkle also quipped about how that decision was one of the best career gifts to Rani Mukherji who played the character of Tina in the film, initially written for her.
Released in 1998, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, is one of the most popular films from the 90s. It also won National award for Best Film along with several other awards.