Kal Ho Naa Ho
Short description
Kal Ho Naa Ho is a romantic drama set in the Indian community of New York in spring 2003. Naina Catherine Kapur, a serious MBA student, carries the weight of her family after her father's death: she looks after her younger siblings, supports her mother Jennifer, whose failing restaurant is under threat, and endures her quarrelsome grandmother. Her life is orderly and joyless until Aman Mathur moves in nearby. His energy unsettles her, and with the help of her friend Rohit Patel he sets out to draw her out of her shell. As Naina begins to open up, Aman keeps pushing her away because of a secret he is hiding.
The film was directed by Nikkhil Advani, marking his first feature and the start of a directing career that continued with Chandni Chowk to China (2009), Hero (2015) and Vedaa (2024). Karan Johar wrote the screenplay and produced it with Yash Johar. Shah Rukh Khan plays Aman, Preity Zinta plays Naina and Saif Ali Khan plays Rohit, with Jaya Bachchan, Sushma Seth and Reema Lagoo among the credited cast of 37.
Released in November 2003, the film took about 13 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.9 out of 10 from roughly 81,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.5 from over 450 votes. A critics' rating of 7.3 from ten reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Some scenes had to be filmed in Toronto because the cost of filming in New York turned out to be simply unaffordable.
- Shah Rukh Khan's children didn't see the film's finale as it was released in theaters. Karan Johar specially edited a version for them where everything ends before the death of the character played by their father.
- On the fifth day of filming, Shah Rukh Khan fell ill. He was already ready to leave the project altogether, but director Nikhil Advani persuaded Johar to wait for his recovery and continue filming. Khan's illness lasted six months.
- The street where the main characters lived was filmed in Brooklyn; the film crew rented accommodation there for two weeks.
- While working on the script, Karan Johar lived in New York for a month and a half, studying the local residents and representatives of the Indian diaspora.
- Karina Kapoor was initially chosen for the role of Naina, but she declined due to financial issues.
- Screenwriter and producer Karan Johar wrote the script with Karisma Kapoor in mind, but she asked for such a high fee that Preity Zinta was chosen instead.
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