'SRK Was Never Considered For Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai'

'I never gave any indication that Hrithik would do a film for the underworld.'

With nine Filmfare awards, Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai became the second-largest Filmfare winner after Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge which had won 10.

Director Rakesh Roshan had felt vindicated at the time. While his earlier films won awards, he had won none in the capacity of a director.

"When a film is awarded, it definitely gives one a huge high," he tells Subhash K Jha.

"Sometimes, a film does exceptionally well at the box office but doesn't win awards. Then again, there are award-winning films which aren't successful at the box office. Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai did both.

"It became a hit and got awards. But to be honest, I didn't expect so many awards. I think for three members of the same family (including Rakeshji, his Composer brother Rajesh Roshan and son Hrithik) to win awards for the same film is unprecedented."

"This was a double role with a difference," Rakesh Roshan says about the film.

"The two Hrithiks were never together. When one dies, the other appears. So in a way, the two characters formed a complete whole. In most films featuring double roles, one is good and the other is bad. In this case, both the Hrithiks were decent human beings with different attitudes to life.

"We planned the film in the way it was presented with Ameesha Patel gradually coming to love the person her dead boyfriend resembled. although she insists she can never forget her first love. It's the crisis in the girl's life that brings her close to her dead love's lookalike."

The filmmaker remembers the moment he decided to cast his son in Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai.

"On the morning when I decided on this story, Hrithik was sitting next to me. Since the story required a new face, we decided right then that Hrithik would do it. "Contrary to rumours, Shah Rukh Khan was never considered for Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai. He was in the running for another film that I was planning to make at that time. If I had made that film, Hrithik would have made his debut a couple of years down the line. It was fate, I guess."

Soon after Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai was declared a blockbuster, Rakesh Roshan was shot at by the underworld, which claimed he had promised that Hrithik would do a film for them.

"I never gave any indication that Hrithik would do a film for them. I kept putting them off saying Hrithik had no dates, which was the truth.

"They asked me to take dates away from other producers and give it to them. I refused to do this. Once I had committed my son's dates elsewhere, I refused to give in to arm-twisting tactics. With the kind of tension and fear that some of us had to bear, we couldn't do anything creative, let alone make a film."

Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai released on January 14, and today, it marks Hrithik Roshan's 25th work anniversary.

The actor looks back at the film that made him an overnight star, and posts some notes he had made as a debutant.

'My notes from 27 years ago. Prepping as an ACTOR for my first movie Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. I remember how nervous I was. Still am when starting a movie. I'd be embarrassed sharing these, but after 25 years of being in the industry I guess I can handle it,' Hrithik writes.

'Then to now, what's changed? I see these pages and realise -- absolutely nothing. Good thing? Bad thing? It's just how it is. Only process remains. So much to be thankful for. So much to be grateful for. So much left to do.

'It's the 25th anniversary of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. And the ONLY thing I want to celebrate are these scribbles in my rough book. Only thing I am relieved about is the proof of resilience.

'The first page says "one day" at the bottom. No such day happened, it never came. Or maybe it did but I missed it cause I was in prep.'