Why was Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai so good

On 14 January, 2000, director-producer Rakesh Roshan launched his son Hrithik (then 26) with the romantic drama ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’. The film turned out to be the biggest hit of the year. Hrithik had earlier played blink and miss roles as a child artist in films like Bhagwaan Dada, Asha,  Aap Ke Deewane, and Aasra Pyaar Ka. Hrithik had also worked as an assistant in his dad’s films like Koyla. Karan Arjun. Interestingly, Rakesh Roshan was keen on having Shah Rukh Khan for the role, but the superstar was busy with other commitments. It was then that Hrithik had suggested his father that he should look for a new comer.

Hrithik Roshan became one of the very few Bollywood actors to do a double role in their debut film. The other actor to have done so in recent times is Deepika Padukone, who made her debut with Om Shanti Om.

Kaho Naa … Pyaar Hai  also marked the debut of Ameesha Patel, who’s father  Amit was Rakesh Roshan’s colleague in school.  Ameesha had initially refused the offer as she wanted to pursue her studies in USA.  The role was then offered to Kareena Kapoor, who took the offer but then backed out few days into the shooting.  Buzz also has it that the role was first offered to Aishwarya Rai, who’d turned it down politely.  A bit of cajoling by the director then convinced Ameesha to take up the project.

Story goes that Ameesha’s parents were against their daughter entering Bollywood. After much persuasion, they gave in to their daughter’s wish, but Ameesha wasn’t travelling alone. Asha Patel, the mother of Ameesha, followed her daughter to New Zealand for a cameo role. She played mother to Raj Chopra, the second character played by Hrithik Roshan.

One of the many fascinating stories surrounding the film was that the director had actually filmed two climaxes. One that sees Raj being killed, while the other had him uniting with Sonia (Ameesha Patel). Hindi films ought to have happy ending and so Roshan opted for the latter. It must also be recalled that during the first draft of the script, Raj was to be a negative character, but Roshan didn’t approve of the idea and chose to kill the innocent character Rohit.

Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai sweeped most of the major awards in the country.  Hrithik Roshan became just the third actor to have won the Filmfare best actor award with his debut film.  The film bagged eight other Filmfare awardsthat included the award for Best film, Best director, Best music.Rakesh Roshan, who had earlier been nominated for Khoon Bhari Maang and Karan Arjun, won his first Filmfare award bagging the best director’s award for Kaho Naa….Pyaar Hai. As per Limca Books of Records, Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai won a record 102 awards, the most by any Bollywood film. The film was a resounding success at the box-office too. Made on a budget of Rs.10 crore, the film grossed Rs. 3.6 billion worldwide.
 

Music ran in the blood as Rajesh and Rakesh inherited it from their father, the legendary Roshan Nagrath. The brothers went through a dry spell with Rajesh last receiving a nomination in the music category in 1996 for Papa Kehte Hai. With AR.Rahman ushering in a revolution in Hindi music with hits like Dil Se, Taal, Roja, 1947 Earth, the 90s music (orchestrated by the likes of Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin Lalit, Anu Malik, Anand-Milind), was beginning to lose steam. Thus Rajesh Roshan needed to usher in a renaissance of sorts in his career.
 
The music of Kaho Naa..Pyaar was not a masterpiece, but what clicked for it was that it was a breakaway from the 90s music. The songs weren’t poetry, but they sounded more like lovers conversing, perhaps striking chord with the collegians and young audience. Penned by Ibrahim Ashk, Saawan Kumar Tak, and Vijay Akela, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai tracks offered the likes of Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik a breather from the sober tracks of the 90s. At best, the music of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai can be described as conversational and very happy. Perhaps, that is what helped it edge films like Refugee, Mohabbatein.
 
Lucky Ali bagged two nominations in the best male playback singer category and surprisingly won for the dance number Ek Pal Ka Jeena, when most expected him to bag it for the more romantic and soulful track, ‘Na Tum Jaano Na Hum’. Meanwhile, Rajesh Roshan won his second best music director award having last tasted success with the 1975 classic ‘Julie’. Unheralded singer Babul Supriyo also came to light with the track ‘Dil Ne Dil Ko Pukara’. His voice drew comparisons with Kumar Sanu, and often confusing listeners. Sanu himself had a romantic melody, ‘Chand Sitare’ from the film.

Basking in the glory of the enormous hit, Rakesh Roshan’s life took a dramatic twist for the worse, when he found himself battling for his life just seven days after the release of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. The seasoned filmmaker had refused to bow down before extortionists from the underworld who had demanded profit from the share of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. On January 21, 2000, two hitmen from the Ali Budesh gang shot at Roshan near his office in Tilak Road, Santacruz in Mumbai.  One bullet hit on the arm, while the other grazed his chest.
 
“Dad called to say that he’s been shot.  I paused for few seconds not knowing how to react. I told him dad If you’re shot then you shouldn’t be calling me, but you should be quickly heading to the hospital,” Hrithik said these words in an TV interview whilst recalling the horror moment for the family.
 
 
Roshan recovered from the bullet wounds and, perhaps, this attack created a sympathy wave for the film. However, that shouldn’t take any credit away from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. After all, the other films in the fray, (Josh, Mohabbatein, Mission Kashmir) weren’t really blockbusters.

It’s difficult to put whose idea was it, but perhaps we believe Hrithik himself must have initiated it.  In the film, Raj meets Sonia for the first time at a traffic signal. Legend goes that Hrithik had met his wife Sussane Khan in a similar way. Unfortunately, unlike the reel, the real love story didn’t have a happy ending with the couple announcing their divorce in 2015.

Europe and America were the chief destinations for Bollywood films, primarily to shoot those romantic songs. Though filmmakers had been to Australia, but seldom did Bollywood find flavour with New Zealand. After all, the ‘land of the long white cloud’ didn’t open its heavenly doors easily. Director Tinnu Anand was the first Indian filmmaker to shoot in New Zealand when he shot a romantic number from his 1998 flick Major Saab.. New Zealand wasn’t the first choice for director Rakesh Roshan as he was more keen to shoot in neighboring Fiji Islands. Failure to obtain requisite permission led Roshan to shoot in New Zealand.