Farah says Shah Rukh Khan ‘mar mar ke’ played college boy in ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ hence she did reverse engineering for ‘Main Hoon Na’

Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji starrer ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ is one of the most iconic movies of Hindi cinema. While it continues to remain a cult, 25 years later post its release, SRK had his own apprehensions about playing a college boy in the movie because he was 30 years old that time. SRK’s close friend Farah Khan who went on to make ‘Main Hoon Na’ with him, reveals how she carved the script of her debut film accordingly.
Farah said during a chat with Radio Nasha, “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 that time! 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.”
The choreographer-turned-director revealed that initially, ‘Main Hoon Na’ was a small film with SRK only bursting a drung ring in college. But later only the India-Pakistan bit, Project Milap and Raghavan’s character (played by Suniel Shetty) got added and the film grew big.
Farah revealed that it was the highest budget film of the year which wouldn’t have been possible with SRK backing the project as a producer. She recalls how he came on board and said, “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, somethings are worth waiting for.”