Today is the day Farah Khan made her directorial debut with one of the most entertaining movies we’ve seen in Bollywood. Everything, from the songs to the scenes (the spitting one with Satish Shah and Shah Rukh Khan) and all those mad quirks have made Main Hoon Na into a timeless classic. So, on the occasion of the movie turning 12, here’s a list of interesting trivia not many know about this film.
1) Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan’s introduction song was path-breaking!
The song Chale Jaise Hawaein was shot in one take.
2) Suniel Shetty wasn’t the first choice to play Raghavan
Farah Khan wanted Naseeruddin Shah to play Raghavan, but due to his commitment to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) he was not able to take on such a large role at that point of time. That’s why he special appearance as a father of an illegitimate child, similar to his role in Masoom. After Naseer, Farah asked Kamal Haasan, but he didn’t have the dates either. She then went to Nana Patekar who demanded certain changes to the story, which she was not willing to do. Only then Suniel Shetty was approached.
3) Farah threatened Shah Rukh with Gauri Khan!
The first stunt Shah Rukh Khan does while walking into the wall was a secret from Farah. She didn’t want him to do that stunt due to his back injury. She even threatened to tell his wife, Gauri Khan.
4) SRK wasn’t a fan of Main Hoon Na
Shah Rukh originally did not like the title of the movie because it sounded incomplete to him. It was only after he heard the title track of the song did he realize it all fits perfectly.
5) Ramayan references FTW
The film is a takeoff on the Ramayan, as the male characters are named – Ram, Lucky (Lakshman) and Raghavan (Ravana). As a reference, in the movie, Lucky (played by Zayed Khan) mentions that the house would feel like Mahabarat if he kept his name as Lakshman. Then his brother and mother correct him by saying Ramayan.
6) Tabu makes an appearance!
Tabu makes an uncredited appearance in the movie. She can be seen when Shah Rukh Khan is doing dance practice for the prom night. But you’d know that if you read our blog regularly!
7) Zayed Khan wasn’t the first choice for his career defining role
Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan and Sohail Khan were considered for the role of Lucky.
8) Nor was Amrita Rao
Ameesha Patel and Ayesha Takia were considered to play Sanjana
9) And nor was Sushmita Sen
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was offered the role of Chandni but due to problems with Shah Rukh Khan during the making of Chalte Chalte, she was replaced by Sushmita Sen.
10) Sholay references #Winning
The carriage Shah Rukh Khan is riding when chasing the assassins has the name Dhanno written on it as a homage to Sholay, where Hema Malini‘s horse is named Dhanno.
11) Spot Rani!
Rani Mukerji was supposed to make have a guest appearance in a song, but it wasn’t possible. That’s why there are two pictures of her when Satish Shah is flirting with the lady on a public phone.
12) R.D Burman, the king.
Farah Khan wanted to re-create Rahul Dev Burman‘s music in the movie, but she chose not to, because the movie Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002) had done the same thing. She then told music director Anu Malik to make the music R.D. Burman style.
All these facts have been sourced from IMDb