Kajol 'replaced' Aishwarya Rai; KJo didn't offer role to Jaya after meeting with BigB for K3G!

2001's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham remains one of the most iconic Bollywood movies to date. Bringing such a huge ensemble cast together today would burn holes in the pockets of filmmakers. But, did you know, not Kajol, Aishwarya Rai (Bachchan) was KJo's first choice for Anjali? Even KJo didn't offer the movie to Jaya Bachchan after Amitabh Bachchan gave a nod to the role?

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AishwaryaRai WasKJo'sFirstChoiceForAnjali

During an old interview, KJo revealed that he initially wanted to cast Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for the role of Anjali. As the filmmaker said, he believed that Kajol might not be available considering her personal life and choice of starting a family.

KJo said, "When I was casting for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, I got to know that Kajol wouldn’t be able to do the film because she was married and maybe she wanted to start a family. I thought I will approach Aishwarya. On that particular day, at 3 p.m. I reached Kajol’s studio and I thought she will say no, we will shed some tears and I will leave. I, of course, felt bad because Kajol had already worked with me."

However, surprisingly, Kajol gave a nod to the film, as opposed to KJo's expectations.

KJoDidn'tOfferK3GtoJayaAfterMeetingwithBigB

During an interview with designer, Prabal Gurung on the Gold House YouTube channel, KJo recalled how after the success of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai he wanted to do his next. The filmmaker revealed that encouraged by the success of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, he started writing his second.

KJo said, "One morning, I woke up, I looked at my dad and said, ‘I want to work with Mr. Bachchan, Mrs. Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor’. My father looked at me thinking ‘daure pad jaate hain’. He said, ‘Beta, you should make one film at a time’. I said, ‘They’re all in one film’.”

The filmmaker revealed that he went to offer the film to each actor the same day and started with Bachchans 'out of seniority'.

KJo said that he went to BigB and after his meeting, he left their house. However, he returned for a meeting with Jaya Bachchan after driving around for a few minutes. He did this because he wanted to treat the veteran actress as an individual and not as a part of a package deal.

After getting a nod from the Bachchans, KJo went to Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor and everyone gave him a nod.

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Notably, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham remains one of the most popular movies made by Karan Johar. The film emerged as a blockbuster and firmed KJo's position as a successful filmmaker.