Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa had been one of the well-known works of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, where we saw him more as an actor than a superstar. It had been one of the initial works of the Raees actor, based on a coming of age tale directed by Kundan Shah, and starring SRK, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, and Deepak Tijori. And as the cult film completes 26 years
At a time when most heroes were busy beating up the bad guys, Shah Rukh played a hero who was basically a loser. Many of us were completely new to the concept of cinema back then, but still, when he entered the arena, there was something about his skills and expressions, looking at which we were able to tell there is something different about this guy. Hardly were we able to predict that he would one day end up ruling Bollywood. That’s Shah Rukh for you, and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is one such film which strengthened his footing in films.
Here are few facts one should know about the movie
Shah Rukh Khan claims that this is his favorite film he has acted in.
Gauri Khan designed outfit for Shahrukh khan and Sutapa sarkar designed dress for Suchitra Krishnamurti .
Shah Rukh Khan started a new trend at the advance booking window at Gaiety cinema, Bombay, where the film was scheduled to release. He sat and signed autographs on tickets that were being bought by viewers.
The film released in 1994, but Shahrukh Khan had already won the Critics Filmfare Award for best actor in 1993. The film was shown to the special jury before its release. This is how the decision was made to give ShahRukh the award for Critics Best Actor and the film Critics Award for Best Film.
This was one of the rare mainstream Hindi movies in which the hero played the role of a loser.
They shot three different endings and were debating which one to use.
The distributors had no faith in Kundan Shah directing a commercial film. The film remained completed and unsold for a year and a half. It was only when Shah Rukh Khan’s Baazigar became a hit that the distributors decided to finally buy the film.
When the film was first planned in late 1991, Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla were signed for the lead roles. Shah Rukh Khan was to play the second lead role. As the months progressed , Aamir Khan lost interest in the film and Shah Rukh was bumped up into his role. Juhi backed out due to scheduling problems but promised to do a special appearance. Deepak Tijori was signed for the role that was to be done by Shah Rukh Khan.
Shah Rukh Khan did the whole film for Rs. 25,000 with a signing amount of Rs. 5000.
The band that is thrown out by the customers at China Town Hotel when Sunil and his troupe come to give their audition, play the same tune that later Sunil performs during the song “Sachi yeh kahaani hai…”
Kundan Shah and Shah Rukh Khan finalized Shah Rukh’s look for the film . They wanted the character to be plump,wear thick glasses and have buck teeth. They finally decided against it due to commercial reasons .
Based on the novel Swell Season by Czech writer Josef Skvorecky.
Shah Rukh Khan signed this film in the corridor of the Tulip Star Hotel (known then as the Juhu Centaur) where the mahurat of his film “Deewana” was being held.
The film was ready even before “Baazigar” and “Darr” released but no distributor was buying it. In fact, even after those films released and became hits, distributors did not want to buy it. One day, Shah Rukh spoke to (producer) Vijay Gilani and he agreed to buy the film. So Vijay Gilani,Venus (Worldwide Entertainment) and Shah Rukh became joint producers and bought the Bombay territory. That’s how the film released in Mumbai.During one of this film’s showings in Hyderabad, the director and Shah Rukh Khan went to the theater, stopped the show and interacted with the audience. They spoke to them for 10 minutes, and then watched the rest of the film with the audience.
Originally the entire film was to be shot in Goa but due to budgetary constraints, it was shot partially in Goa and the rest completed in Mumbai.
The budget was so small that the cast and crew could not afford any lavishness. They took a flight to Mumbai in the Economy class. Deven Verma was in the same flight, and he was flying Business class. Deven Verma had worked with Shah Rukh, so he came and asked Shah Rukh how come he was travelling Economy. Shah Rukh politely said, ‘My ticket is for Economy.’
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa recovered the cost 12 years after the film was made.
The tune of the song Deewana Dil Deewana was taken from a instrumental part from the song “Dekhta Hoon Koi Ladki Haseen” from Sanam Tere Kasam.
Creative genius Rahul Dev Burman composed a wicked background music piece for Shakaal’s entry. He used trumpets and used them twice in the intro of the song. He later took that same tune of the trumpets and used it in the middle of the song of Dekhta Hoon Koi Ladki Haseen in the film Sanam Tere Kasam. Years later Jatin Lalit were inspired by this tune and used it for the words “Deewana , Dil Deewana” in the song “Dil Deewana” .
The producers wanted to name the film “Albela” with the song ” Woh To Hain Albela” written with that in mind. But they failed to get permission to use the title.
As soon as Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander released, Mamik was offered Deepak Tijori’s role. He declined it due to Kundan Shah telling him the film was about ‘Shahrukh”.Shahrukh Khan’s only film with Suchitra Krishnamurthy.Juhi Chawla made Guest appreance in this movie
Produced on a budget of Rs. 1.4 crores. the film went on to gross Rs. 5.5 crores.
At the 39th Filmfare Awards, the film won the Critics Award for Best Film and the Critics Award for Best Actor for Shah Rukh Khan, who also won the Best Actor award for “Baazigar” at the same ceremony.
The film was remade in Telugu as Swapnalokam (1999) with Jagapathi Babu.
Shah Rukh Khan has bought the rights to the film under his banner, Red Chillies Entertainment.
The film has also drawn comparisons to the later Hollywood film “500 Days of Summer” (2009).
In 2014, at the 20th anniversary of this film, Shah Rukh Khan tweeted that at one point during the making of the film, the filmmakers were thinking about titling it “Lolak Kabhi Yahaan Kabhi Wahaan”. Lolak means pendulum in Hindi.
Once, during the shooting of this film, Deepak Tijori and Shah Rukh were giving a shot together. Deepak asked the director Kundan Shah how he performed. They were doing a retake anyway, so the director told him that he would watch him then. But in the next retake also, he was still looking only at Shah Rukh, so enamored was he with his performance.
The cast and crew stayed in Goa Tourism guest houses, where the room charge was Rs 160.
In one scene where Shah Rukh’s character had to trip and fell, he peeled the skin off this hands but continued to give seven retakes for the same shot without complaining.
The song in the film, “Sachi yeh kahaani hai…” has striking similarities with Boney M’s 1978 popular single “Rasputin”, which was also remade in 2012s Saif Ali Khan starrer Agent Vinod.
The film had a theatrical release in Canada. The theatre owner’s were aware of Shah Rukh Khan’s rising popularity and did massive promotion on his name alone.
Naseeruddin Shah agreed to do the film for free as a kind gesture for Kundan Shah .
