SRK Didn't Want To Play College Boy At 30 In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Says Farah Khan: 'Mar Mar Ke...'

Farah Khan made her directorial debut with the 2004 film, Main Hoon Na, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao, Sushmita Sen, Suniel Shetty and Kirron Kher among others. She knew that she wanted to make a “young” film with Shah Rukh Khan after watching him in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. However, one problem that came in her way was that SRK didn’t want to play a college kid again due to his age.

Speaking to Radio Nasha, Farah said, “After Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I just wanted to make a young film. Shah Rukh ne mar mar ke Kuch Kuch Hota Hai kiya, he used to say I am too old to play this college boy and he was 30 at that time!” However, Farah had a creative solution for this problem. “So I reverse-engineered Main Hoon Na. I wanted to make a college film only with Shah Rukh. But why will Shah Rukh go to college, so the whole thing worked backwards. That if he has to go to college, he will go undercover,” she said.

Farah Khan revealed that the original script was smaller and had a different plot. She said, “It started out as a small movie about Shah Rukh bursting a drug ring in the college, where his brother is also there and Shah Rukh falls in love with the chemistry teacher. But while writing I kept feeling this is a bit small, and then the whole India-Pakistan, Project Milap, Raghavan (Suniel Shetty) bits kept adding and the film grew.”

Farah also recalled narrating the film to Shah Rukh when they were filming Mohabbatien and were driving from London to Oxford. “So he asked me to narrate the script in that three-hour drive. So, I did that–narrating from my handwritten script– and when we got down he said he will produce the film and he will star in it as well! But the shooting started after three years! But it’s ok, something’s are worth waiting for,” she added.

When Farah Khan’s Main Hoon Na was released, it was rumoured that Zayed Khan’s role was supposed to be portrayed by Hrithik Roshan. However, due to tension between Hrithik and Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan could not cast Hrithik. In the same conversation, Farah confirmed these rumours and said that while Hrithik was excited about the film, he asked her if Shah Rukh would be willing to work with him. However, after the release of Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, Hrithik became a massive superstar and “the rest is history”.