Kajol Reveals She Fought With Karan Johar (And Lost) To Play Rani Mukerji’s Role In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

A still from the film. (courtesy: dharmamovies)

New Delhi:

Kajol, who starred as Anjali in Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, during Netflix’s The Film Actors’ Roundtable 2023 with Rajeev Masand, revealed that she fought with the director because she wanted to play Tina in the film. (Rani Mukerji played the role of Tina). “I fought in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I fought with Karan Johar, I wanted to play Tina’s role and he was like, No. You are playing Anjali. I was like, but I want to play Tina’s role. You don’t know what I will do with Tina. Karan told me to shut up. I fought with him tooth and nail for 45 minutes but he refused categorically.”

Meanwhile, last month on Karan Johar’s chat show Koffee With Karan 8, when Rani Mukerji and Kajol attended as guests, KJo asked them, “The two of you seem quite close now, but back then you did not have a friendship or a relationship at all, right?” Karan Johar asked the actresses. To which Kajol replied, “Not really. “Karan Johar, recalling Kajol and Rani’s equation during the shoot for the film, added, “I used to wonder, what kind of families don’t talk to each other, they’re cousins.” He then asked, “Was there an organic distance or you weren’t close to that side of the family?” Kajol agreed that it was “organic distance” and added, “It was an organic distance, honestly. Where work is concerned, both of us liked where we were.” Rani Mukerji revealed that it was after she and Kajol lost their respective fathers that they reunited.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which opened in theaters on October 16, in the year 1998, is one of the biggest films made in Bollywood in those times. Besides, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji, the film also featured Salman Khan (in a special appearance), Sana Saeed played the role of SRK and Rani Mukerji’s daughter Anjali. The cast also included veterans Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher, Archana Puran Singh, late actress Reema Lagoo and comedian Johnny Lever.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was made on a budget of Rs 10 crore and it is considered to be the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1998 and it won multiple awards.