Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was a massive hit since the day it got released. Everyone loved the movie and even now it is being rewatched. Karan Johar’s directorial debut starred superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukherji in the lead which led it to become a massive success.
But the star-studded cast wasn’t the first option since Johar’s first choice for Tina’s role was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who was just three movies old when the offer came.
However, Aishwariya rejected the offer because she felt she would have been ‘lynched’ if she opted for the film.
“I’m in a catch-22 situation, really. Though I’m a newcomer, I’m compared with all the senior actresses. If I’d done the film, it would have been tittered that, ‘Look, Aishwarya Rai is back to doing what she did in her modelling days—leaving her hair straight, wearing minis, and pouting glamorously into the camera.’ Ultimately, the hero goes back to the more real person. I know if I’d done Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I would have been lynched.”
While Tina’s role has been originally written for Twinkle Khanna, Karan revealed he had approached Aishwarya, Urmila Matondkar and Tabu, among others, with the role of Tina. However, they all turned him down. “Ash was the only one who was polite to call me back,” he had said.
Karan had also revealed that it was filmmaker Aditya Chopra who recommended Rani’s name for the part. “It took months to cast for Rani’s part after Aditya Chopra recommended me her name,” he said, at an event.
But we believe Rani was the perfect choice for Tina’s role as she did justice to the character. We loved her in that role.
