Why Aishwarya Rai refused to work in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai?
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH) wooed the masses as the film paved its way to be crowned as a cult classic of Bollywood keeping in view a generation that counts it as iconic. Despite some problematic points and flawed plot, Karan Johar's directorial debut starred superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukherji in the lead which led it to become a massive success. But the star-studded cast wasn't the first option since Johar knocked on the door of my female celebrities for Tina's role. One of them was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who was just three movies old when the offer came. However, Aishwariya rejected the offer because she felt she would have been 'lynched' if she opted for the film. "I'm in a catch-22 situation, really. Though I'm a newcomer, I'm compared with all the senior actresses. If I'd done the film, it would have been tittered that, 'Look, Aishwarya Rai is back to doing what she did in her modelling daysleaving her hair straight, wearing minis, and pouting glamorously into the camera.' Ultimately, the hero goes back to the more real person. I know if I'd done Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I would have been lynched." While Tina's role has been originally written for Mrs Funny Bones Twinkle Khanna, Karan revealed he had approached Aishwarya, Urmila Matondkar and Tabu, among others, with the role of Tina. However, they all turned him down. Ash was the only one who was polite to call me back, he had said. Karan had also revealed that it was filmmaker Aditya Chopra who recommended Rani's name for the part. "It took months to cast for Ranis part after Aditya Chopra recommended me her name," he said, at an event. Later, Aishwarya and Karan reunited after 17 years for their first big-screen project Ae Dil Hai Mushkil starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma.