Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, the 2001 movie starring Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan was helmed by Karan Johar. The director, however, revealed that he initially had Aishwarya Rai in mind in place of Kajol’s character, however, he missed the chance to work with Aishwarya.
Earlier, in an interview with Komal Nahta, Karan Johar said, “When I was casting for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, I got to know that Kajol won’t be able to do the film because she was married and maybe she wanted to start a family. I thought I will approach Aishwarya. On that particular day, at 3 p.m. I reached Kajol’s studio and I thought she will say no, we will shed some tears and I will leave. I, of course, felt bad because Kajol had already worked with me.”
The filmmaker further added, “But I don’t know what changed, Kajol actually wanted to do the film. So, I did not go to meet Aishwarya. But Aishwarya was my choice and after that, the series of ‘missing’ started.”
Later, Aishwarya also opened up on it and revealed that Karan Johar did come to her with K3G and said, “He (Karan Johar) did come to me with K3G also but then, his script went in for a change. So the character did change. I know that for sure because I know what was narrated to me and what I saw on screen eventually was different. Of course, Kajol was fabulous. But that also went and I could not do it.”
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was a blockbuster movie starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, and Jaya Bachchan. Released in 2001, the movie collected Rs 119.29 crore worldwide at the box office.
Meanwhile, Karan Johar’s next directional is titled Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and stars Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh. The romantic drama film also stars Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, and Dharmendra in key roles. The film is scheduled to release on July 28 in theatres.
