This actress was part of Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, but she was later dropped from Kal Ho Naa Ho, because of her comment to the filmmaker.
Karan Johar started his career with the iconic romantic drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, followed by the blockbuster family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. In these two films, apart from Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, and Johnny Lever, another actress was seen, and Karan would consider her as his 'lucky mascot'.
However, despite calling her lucky mascot, Karan never worked with her again after K3G, and the actress revealed that the reason behind this is her 'bindass' comment that left the director offended.
Karan Johar's 'lucky mascot' who offended him was...
Himani Shivpuri, the veteran actress played warden Riffat Bi in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In K3G, she played Haldiram's (Johnny Lever) wife. However, after the two films, Himani never worked with Dharma Productions, and the actress discussed about the same in a recent interview. While speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Himani recalled that during the last day of K3G's shoot, she asked Karan to give her better roles. During the making of Kal Ho Naa Ho, Himani realised that her comment had offended Karan, that's why he didn't give her a role in the SRK, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan-starrer
Himani said, "During the last scene (of K3G), Karan Johar came to me and said, ‘Lovely working with you Himani ji, you are my lucky mascot!’ I told him ‘Please from next time, give me a good role’. He said ‘Yes Himani ji, I will’." Then she said that at a screening she met Nikkhil Advani, where he told her that Kal Ho Na Ho was going on floors and he wanted her on board.
Himani said that she even received a dollar from Karan's father as a signing amount, but she wasn't considered for the film. “I asked Yash Johar, who was standing there, for the signing amount and he gave me a dollar! I told my secretary that he should meet Nikkhil because I spoke to him but when he met them, he was told there was no such role for me. Then a few more Dharma films went by, I was not called, so I was left wondering what was happening.”
When Himani confronted Karan
A few months after Kal Ho Naa Ho, Karan met Himani at an award show, and she asked him why he didn't consider her for Kal Ho Naa Ho, even after Nikkhil Advani approached her. "Karan told me, ‘No no Himani ji, that role wasn’t good enough for you. Aapke layak role hoga na tab bulayege aapko (If there is something that is good enough for you, we will call you). Then it struck me, ki meri baat shayad lag gayi (that's when I thought that he got offended). That’s where the chapter ended. I do feel bad, it used to be a lot of fun. We would gossip a lot and were good pals. Maybe we didn’t meet so often that we could break the ice." Karan's last directorial was Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Currently, he's working on his next directorial, which will be an actioner.
Read: Ranveer Singh, Farhan Akhtar's Don 3 may miss 2025 release, film gets delayed for months for this reason
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 "Karan Johar, his lucky mascot who 'offended' him")
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