When Kal Ho Naa Ho was released in 2003, fans of Karan Johar’s style of cinema could not believe that Karan had not directed the film. It had his name all over it, but it was Nikkhil Advani who had directed the Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta-starrer. Kal Ho Naa Ho’s success caused a rift between Nikkhil and Karan, which they resolved after a few years, but in a recent interview, Nikkhil said that the script of the film was “director proof.”
In a chat with Digital Commentary, Nikkhil said that Karan wrote Kal Ho Naa Ho so precisely that any director could have made the film. He credited Karan’s writing for the success of the film and said that he was only involved in the technical aspects of making it. Recalling the process, he shared that late producer Yash Johar was keen that after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Dharma hits a hattrick with their third film. He wanted the third film to be a “blockbuster,” and at that time, Karan was already writing Kal Ho Naa Ho.
“I read somewhere yesterday that Karan’s greatest regret is that he did not direct Kal Ho Naa Ho. But that’s not true because in my opinion, I think the script was director proof. Like some writers say that no matter who directs it, it would have been what it was . It was director-proof. Everything was written in it,” he shared. Nikkhil recalled that the comedy bits of the film with Sushma Seth, Rajpal Yadav, Delnaz Irani were all a part of Karan’s script. “Karan is an incredible dialogue writer. The emotions in the second half… Jaya ji’s emotion, the revelation that Shah Rukh is dying at the interval point. It was director-proof,” he said.
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Nikkhil added that the technical aspects were his contribution. “I was the one who was doing things like split screen, shot breakdown, the breaking of the fourth wall… I don’t remember if I showed something to Karan or he showed me something and we said fantastic,” he recalled and added that he was the one who brought Shankar Ehsaan Loy on board. “Dil Chahta Hai had released and I said I want to work with Shankar Ehsan Loy,” he said.
Kal Ho Naa Ho was recently re-released in the theatres and fans of the film enjoyed the experience of catching the film again after 21 years.
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