Karan Johar started his filmmaking career by directing the romantic movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The film featured Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as the main actors, with Salman Khan and Rani Mukerji in supporting
roles. Recently, Karan Johar recalled how the film marked his first collaboration with Salman Khan, and the filmmaker ended up crying in the actor’s vanity van.
Speaking on Manyavar’s YouTube channel, Karan recalled, “It was my first time working with Salman Khan, so I was very… what should I say? I was quite wound up because he was such a big star. It was his first day on set, and I walked into his van. He was in a T-shirt and jeans. I said, ‘Salman, you know it’s a big set.’ And he said, ‘Yes, but if for the first time a groom comes in jeans and a T-shirt, it will be a new style. I’ll bring the swag.’ I got so hyped. I said, ‘But the set is so ornate. Kajal has such an intricate lehenga.’”
He further recalled, “I thought, ‘If he comes in jeans and a T-shirt, what will happen?’ But he reassured me, ‘I’ll pull it off.’ I got so stressed that I started crying in front of him. He looked so nervous seeing me crying in his vanity van, and finally, he agreed, ‘No, no, I’ll wear the suit.’ And then we shot my first-ever Sangeet song sequence.”
Previously, Karan has talked about the hard work he put in to convince Salman Khan to join the cast, especially after other actors like Chandrachur Singh and Saif Ali Khan had declined the role of Aman Mehra. “After Chandrachur Singh and Saif Ali Khan said no, I was very depressed. One day, I was at Chunky Panday’s house for a party, and Salman came up to me and said ‘I heard you have been shopping.’ He said you need to be really confident to do that part and asked me to come and narrate it to him the next day,” Karan recalled during a chat with Prabal Gurung for Gold House NGO. The film went on to become one of the biggest hits.
