Headlined by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol and also featuring Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan, the romantic drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai marked the directorial debut of Karan Johar. Made in just Rs 10 crore, the film went on to become a blockbuster, earning Rs 106 crore gross worldwide and became the highest-grossing Indian film of 1998.

Saif Ali Khan and Chandrachur Singh rejected the role, which was finally played by Salman Khan, and Twinkle Khanna, Urmila Matondkar, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor, and Juhi Chawla rejected the role, which was finally played by Rani Mukerji in the film.
Apart from the actors, there was another artiste who refused to do the Karan Johar directorial because of the film’s title and regretted his decision later. He was the legendary lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar. Sameer eventually penned the lyrics for the songs composed by Jatin-Lalit.

In a conversation with fashion designer Prabal Gurung in 2023, the filmmaker recalled, “Javed sahab had a problem with the title Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, we had a creative disagreement and he told me, ‘I don’t feel like I can write the lyrics of this film’s songs’ and it was very amicable. I told him that it is my desire to work with you and he said, ‘We will work Karan another time.’ But when the film released, he called me and told me that he was wrong.” Javed Akhtar has also said in his multiple interviews that when he first heard the title of the film, he thought the name had “a lot of double meaning.”

Javed Akhtar and Karan Johar collaborated on the filmmaker’s third film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna released in 2006. The lyricist wrote the songs composed by the musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for the film, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherji, Preity Zinta and Kirron Kher.

READ | Made in Rs 20 crore, this film earned Rs 340 crore, won two National Film Awards, led to multiple controversies

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