Kal Ho Naa Ho is considered one of the cult movies of Bollywood, and even after two decades of its release, it continues to resonate with audiences. But can you imagine this movie without Shah Rukh Khan? While the actor earned immense popularity with the film, he actually wanted to quit and asked the makers to replace him. Surprisingly, the actor recommended actor Salman Khan's name to play Aman Mathur. Shedding more light on this, filmmaker Nikkhil Advani recently revealed the real reason behind SRK's decision.

Nikkhil Advani, in a statement to Mirchi Plus, said, “He (Shah Rukh Khan) called us after doing one scene and said, ‘Yaar, mere se nahi hoga, aap log kya ek kaam karo, you know main Salman ko phone karta hoon, Salman ke saath bana do. (I can’t do this now; you do one thing: I will call Salman, and you can make the film Kal Ho Naa Ho with Salman.)"

Notably, Shah Rukh was suffering from a back issue and had to immediately leave for Germany to undergo surgery. For that, he needed a six-month recovery period. So, he didn’t want the makers to wait. But thanks to Nikkhil Advani and Karan Johar, who stood by him and decided to wait for him to heal. The shoot resumed after six months when SRK was back on set.

About Kal Ho Naa Ho Movie

This cult movie was written and produced by Karan Johar. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Jaya Bachchan, Jhanak Shukla, Sonali Bendre, Delnaaz Irani, and Lillete Dubey in key roles. The movie was released eighteen years ago, in 2003. It went on to become one of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies at the box office that year. All the songs in the movie, including Kal Ho Naa Ho, Maahi Ve, Pretty Woman, It's the Time to Disco and Kuch To Hua Hai became huge hits. After receiving so much love, the movie was re-released across the nation on November 15, 2024.

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