Made in Rs 10 crore, this film earned Rs 106 crore, was rejected by 10 stars, became highest-grossing Indian movie in...

Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff-starrer Ali Abbas Zafar's action thriller Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Ajay Devgn-starrer Amit Ravindernath Sharma's sports drama Maidaan are set to clash on the festive occasion of Eid on April 10. But before Maidaan, another film had clashed with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. This is because the former shares its name with Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda-starrer David Dhawan's action comedy released in 1998.

Released 26 years back, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan clashed at the box office with the romantic drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Karan Johar's directorial debut starred Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, and Salman Khan in the leading roles. Shah Rukh and Kajol had already promised Karan that they would star in his debut film when the filmmaker and producer assisted Aditya Chopra in the 1995 film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. So, Karan cast them as Rahul Khanna and Anjali Sharma in his first film.

But, 8 actresses and 2 actors rejected the roles of Tina Malhotra and Aman Mehra, which were eventually played by Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan. When the cousins Rani Mukerji and Kajol had come together in the Koffee With Karan 8 episode in 2023, Karan recalled, "The funniest thing that happened was I narrated Rani the film when 8 girls had said no and I was like 'Mujhe yeh short skirt pehenke karna padega Tina ka role' (I myself would have to wear a short skirt and do Tina's role). 

Karan's first choice for the role was Twinkle Khanna and he had also used her nickname Tina for her character. As per reports, after Twinkle refused to do the film, Karan offered the film to Urmila Matondkar, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor, and Juhi Chawla but they all refused the role. Aditya Chopra suggested Rani's name to Karan after watching her performance in the 1996 film Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, and hence Rani was cast. Interestingly, Aditya and Rani tied the knot in 2014.

For Aman's role, Karan went to Saif Ali Khan and Chandrachur Singh, but they both declined the film. In one of the previous episodes of Koffee With Karan, the director told Salman, "I remember the first time I ever came to your home to narrate my first film to you. Saif and Chandrachur had said no to the role. And you said that no one’s going to do your role, you come and meet me tomorrow." What happened at Salman's home, Karan had narrated the story at multiple times. Salman, who only appears in the second half of the film, loved the first half so much that he agreed to do Kuch Kuch Hota Hai when Karan had narrated the film to him till interval.

Made in Rs 10 crore, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai went on to collect more than ten times its budget, and grossed Rs 106 crore worldwide becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of 1998. It also won two National Film Awards, one for Best Film For Providing Wholesome Entertainment and another for Best Female Playback Singer to Alka Yagnik for the title track composed by Jatin-Lalit and written by Sameer.

READ | Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranveer Singh refused to work in this Rs 100-crore film, it won two National Awards

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