Suchitra Krishnamoorthi on 30 years of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa: 30 years mein logon ka punar-janam ho jaata hai

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (KHKN) completes 30 years, and lead actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is ecstatic. “Wow! 30 years mein logon ka punar-janam ho jaata hai. We are still going strong. I guess it’s a miracle that it’s relevant even today,” Krishnamoorthi said in a candid chat with us.

KHKN, also starring Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) and Deepak Tijori, came in the same year (1994) when we also had stark opposite movies like Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Mohra and Raja Babu. But this one wasn’t your regular romance drama of the 90s.

Krishnamoorthi agreed, crediting director Kundan Shah for this “unconventional” film. “The romance in the 90s was very exaggerated. Kundan turned it into something real and honest. People say KHKN is Shah Rukh’s film. I say it is Kundan’s baby,” the 48-year-old shared.

Krishnamoorthi, already a popular model then, landed the role of Anna after few auditions. But being inexperienced, she had to struggle with the “hard work and discipline of a film set”. The actor-singer added, “I didn’t come from a film culture. I was Anna at that point in my life. I wonder if I could do any other role as naturally as I did Anna.”

Yes, she did have a lot of arguments with Shah because she felt stuck between what she was expected and what she could manage in front of the camera. “Oh my God! He was such a hard taskmaster, he would make me cry,” she told us.

Further adding how she failed to understand why Shah would keep them around even when it wasn’t their shot, Krishnamoorthi recalled, “I used to say I want to go home and meet my boyfriend.”

A story about romance, heartbreak, unrequited love, dreams and coming-of-age, KHKN has matured well with time. The fact that lead hero Sunil (played by SRK) doesn’t get the girl (Anna), there’s still a happy ending for him in a certain way.

Krishnamoorthi laughed at how she even faced the irk of fans for picking another guy in the film. “Arey baap re! Even today I’m given gaalis on Twitter. They say no wonder you didn’t marry Sunil because you don’t deserve him,” she quipped.

According to her, “I know it’s all because of the love for the film. For a lot of people it is very personal.”

So what would she tell today’s generation who is yet to watch the film? On a parting note, Krishnamoorthi said, “Bhaiya dekho, probably the best film you’ve seen in a while...”