14 YEARS OF KOI... MIL GAYA

The 2003 film is one of the most iconic films made in Bollywood. As the sci-fi completes 14 years today, here are seven lesserknown facts about the film

Actor Rishi Kapoor was initially approached to play the role of Hrithik’s father by director Rakesh Roshan. Rishi, who had mentioned the whole episode in his recently-released autobiography, wrote that the two had a fallout after Rishi saw the role as a ‘bad career move’ and refused to do it. Finally, Rakesh himself starred in the film.

The character of Jaadu became so wildly popular, that a spin-off TV series was aired in India with him in the lead. It was called J Bole Toh Jaadoo.

The popular character of the film, Jaadu, was played by Indravadan Purohit. Dressed in the costume, with an animatronic headgear, he couldn’t see anything and had to rely on instructions to move around. Purohit died in 2014.

At the end of the film, Jaadu (the extraterrestrial being) leaves earth and gives Rohit his special powers. But the makers earlier had shot a different ending. In the alternative ending, the alien would take away the powers with him.

Actor Hrithik Roshan, like his character in the film, had faced bullying, as a child, in real life. The 43-year-old had a major stammering problem and has confessed that his childhood days were “like hell”. The scene in which some bullies break Rohit’s bicycle is inspired from a real-life incident in Hrithik’s life.

The film is believed to be ‘inspired’ from the 1982 Hollywood flick E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. In that film, a lonely boy befriends an extraterrestrial being, nicknamed ET, who is stranded on earth and the boy and his friends help him go back to his home.

Hrithik’s character undergoes a physical transformation in the film, and it was not possible for him to gain and lose weight so quickly. The problem was solved with baggy clothes that hid his real proportions. A special hairstyle further made his face look thinner.