14 years of Kal Ho Naa Ho

As the film completes 14 years, Nikhil Advani shares memories of his debut film’s journey

Although it was a dream debut for filmmaker Nikhil Advani, 14 years ago, when he helmed the romantic drama Kal Ho Na Ho, he understands producer Karan Johar’s regret of not directing the film himself, chronicled in his book — An Unsuitable Boy.

“I don’t blame him for regretting it. He wrote it from his heart. But, I think, he underestimated himself, and he thought that he won’t be able to do justice to it. Now when he says that, I feel his pain,” says Nikhil.

According to Nikhil, the film had a unique concept not explored much before. “It wasn’t a film about Aman and Naina (played by Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta respectively) or Rohit and Naina (Saif played the role of Rohit). It was about the friendship that Aman and Rohit shared. It was about a guy, suffering from a terminal disease, who couldn’t confess his feelings to his beloved but knows that his friend, loves the same woman and will be able to take care of her. It’s how he tries to get them together. None had attempted to make a film on those lines, and that’s why it was so successful,” says the filmmaker, rejecting the plot’s similarity with the film Anand (1971). “No it isn’t. If anything, it’s similar to Rajesh Khanna’s Safar to some extent. The only thing similar is that, in both the films, the protagonists (SRK and Rajesh Khanna) knew that they were going to die and so they decided to enjoy each and every moment of their lives.”

However, Nikhil believes that the film’s success is due to the cumulative effort of the crew and not his alone. “It was a complete effort. From Karan Johar creating an extremely democratic working environment to actors being absolutely professional, everything was great. Even the music deserves a lot of credit. I personally feel Kal Ho Naa Ho was one of the best albums composed by ShankarEhsaan-Loy,” he says.

Nikhil Advani’s debut film struck the right chord with the audience