In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Karan Johar recalled narrating Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. He also shared how he approached Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan.

Karan Johar EXCLUSIVE (Pic Courtesy: Sheldon Santos/Kuch Kuch Hota Hai IMDb/Sony Music India YouTube)

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who has completed 25 years in the industry, sat for an exclusive Masterclass with Pinkvilla and revealed that he thought Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol would ‘throw him out’ after narrating Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to them. He also recounted casting Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan for the movie.

Karan Johar on narrating Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol

In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Karan Johar recalled narrating Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. He said, “I took a year to write Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It was first two stories which I merged into one. I narrated it to them in April 1997. I really thought that they’d throw me out, literally after that narration. Because I didn’t know what I was narrating. But at the end of the film, he (SRK) was like, ‘Yeah we’ll start in October’ and that’s what we did. We started in October.”

Karan Johar on struggles in casting Rani Mukerji’s role in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Karan also shared that the role of Tina was rejected by many actresses and how he then approached Rani Mukerji for the part. He said, “The big struggle happened in casting Tina and then Aman which was Rani and Salman’s role. So for Tina, I went to about 8 main lead actresses and all of them said no. I first went to Tina herself, Twinkle (Khanna), because I was very close to her and I wrote the character keeping her in mind but she said no. And subsequently, everyone said no to me. And I said, ‘Now, I’ll have to wear that orange skirt and walk into college because no one’s gonna do that part.’”

Watch the full interview here:

He continued, “Ironically, Aditya Chopra had seen the promo of a film called Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat and he called me and he said, ‘You should go and meet Rani Mukerji. I think she’s gonna be a star.’ So, I met her and narrated the film and she also said, ‘Give me 2 days to think.’ So I was like, ‘Yeh toh ho gaya, koi ni karega (This is done, nobody will do it).’ 2 days later, she called me and said, ‘How will you convince an audience that Shah Rukh is in love with me over Kajol?’ Because Shah Rukh and Kajol were the dream couple at that time. I was like, ‘It’s my first film. I’ll do everything. I’ll work very hard to convince.’ She said, ‘I am going with your conviction.’

Karan Johar on meeting Salman Khan for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Karan shared, “I went to everybody for Salman’s role and nobody said yes to me. I met Salman at Chunky Panday’s party and he was like, ‘Only an absolute confident person will do this film and I am that person. Why don’t you come and meet me tomorrow?’ I went and narrated the film to him. At the first half, he said, ‘I am doing it.’ But I said, ‘Salman you come in the second half. You’ve not heard the 2nd half. He’s like, ‘No, I don’t care. I know where it’s going. I am doing it. I really like your dad and I like your energy and I am doing the film.’ I walked out of there and I was like, ‘Salman Khan is doing this film.’ I called up Adi and he was like, ‘Oh my god, the film just got really big.’