Karan Johar on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Reboot: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Janhvi Kapoor make up his dream wishful cast

Karan Johar recently held a premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne to celebrate his debut movie 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' that completed 20 years in Hindi cinema. The 1998 film was a roaring commercial blockbuster and the three central characters - Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan), Anjali (Kajol) and Tina (Rani Mukherji) are popular even today.

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During audience interaction, he was asked what if he were to remake the film now, who would play Rahul, Anjali, and Tina. Without an ounce of doubt, he said, “On my wishlist would be Ranveer Singh as Rahul. He has that mad intensity as Shah Rukh Khan. Alia Bhatt as Anjali. She has the spunk and Janhvi Kapoor as Tina because she has the poise and balance of the part.” 

Narrating about how he cast for the film, he said, “I was ecstatic to met SRK. Kajol and he had promised that they will do my first film. So I remembering going to meet him and I had no script whatsoever. I only had a scene in my mind. Which I narrated to him. And he bought into my bullshit. I told him if you like this one scene then I will narrate the entire film to you, which was completely a lie. Tabu, Urmila, Aishwarya turned me down and Aish was the only one who was polite to call me back. It took months to cast for Rani’s part after Aditya Chopra recommended me her name.”

Twenty years after making people fall in love with his idea of romance in his debut "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", Karan Johar in 2018 said the film's much-fancied hero, Rahul was "a bit of a fraud". The dialogues from "Pyar dosti hai" to "Kuch kuch hota hai Rahul, tum nahi samjhoge" are still etched in fans' minds.

The film redefined new age friendship and romance, and Karan said the movie was a great learning experience for him. He credits the film for his successful innings in Bollywood.

(With inputs from PTI)