Karan Johar tells the story behind the failure of Mani Ratnam’s planned film with Kajol and Shahrukh as the female leads.
Mani Ratnam is one of the most notable directors in Indian cinema. There is a large number of moviegoers who love Mani Ratnam films across languages and states. Actors who refuse to act in Mani Ratnam’s films are rare. Bollywood star Kajol is also a big Mani Ratnam fan. The actress dreamed of working with Mani Ratnam in at least one film. Still, director Karan Johar is telling the story behind Kajol saying no when Mani Ratnam called her to be the heroine of a film.
Karan remembers that Kajol and he had been friends for a long time, but it was at that moment that he realized that the friendship would be with him for the rest of his life.
“Kajol is a big fan of Mani Ratnam. Kajol has said many times that she wants to work with him. Kajol liked the director Mani Ratnam so much. Once, Mani Ratnam called Kajol to do a film with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as heroine and hero. She couldn’t believe it was Mani Ratnam calling. She hung up in front of me saying ‘shut up Karan’. He called her daughter-in-law again and said, ‘This is really Mani Ratnam.’ Shah Rukh meanwhile tried to convince Kajol that it was Mani Ratnam, saying, “Kajol, I swear it is Mani Ratnam.”
Shah Rukh called me to inform me that Mani Ratnam has offered a film with Kajol in the lead, but that too might clash with the dates of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. It was around the time Kajol was signed to star in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. We had to start shooting immediately.
“I will call Kajol and give her my date, how can I not do it if I get an offer from a Mani Ratnam film? He said let’s start my film. But for her, ‘commitment to yourself is important no matter who offers what’. Kajol replied, ‘This is your film, I have committed to you.’ That missed opportunity was no big deal to her. But it made a big difference to me, I realized what kind of person she is, how sincere she is,” added Karan.
Instead of Mani Ratnam’s film, Kajol chose Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. After that, Kajol never got a chance to act in any other Mani Ratnam film. After that, Karan Johar also revealed that he spoke to Mani Ratnam that he hoped you did not take the incident the wrong way once you met him in person.