Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna followed the storyline of Dev (Shah Rukh) and Maya (Rani), who have a relationship after feeling trapped in unhappy marriages with their respective partners.

‘How do I make myself likeable?’

During a candid interaction at the Marrakech Film Festival, Karan Johar said, “It was a very complicated film to shoot. In the mainstream, this was one of the big-budget films dealing with the topic of infidelity. For Shah Rukh Khan, who is the perfect husband, brother, lover, son, going out of the boundary of his marriage and have an affair, we didn’t know whether the audience would accept that character or that relationship.”

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The filmmaker recalled discussing the scenes with the lead star Shah Rukh Khan everyday. “It was very difficult everyday. Shah Rukh and I used to discuss with each other, and he used to tell me, ‘I don’t know how to make myself likeable’. I told him that he is Shah Rukh Khan, how can someone not love Shah Rukh Khan? He is love. We had a complicated scene everyday that was tilting towards the infidelity. We were challenged as director and actor. I didn’t know how to justify them,” he shared.

He continued, “It was a leap we were taking. In retrospect, I am happy that we did. But at that time, it was a lot of chatter about whether I’ve gone mad and I’ve lost the plot. Questions were raised about why I am making a movie like this and why have I done this to Shah Rukh Khan.”

‘How can you do this to Shah Rukh?’

In fact, Johar ended up getting lectured by a senior star for starring SRK in such a role and film. “I remember getting a lecture by a big movie star in the lobby of a hotel, where he asked me, ‘How can you do this to Shah Rukh? How can you endorse infidelity?’ I told him that I can’t endorse something that’s already sold out. There’s no such thing as endorsing infidelity, it exists in everyone’s lives. I told him that I’m happy and proud of it, ‘Thankyou for your advice, but I won’t be taking it’,” he revealed.

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When asked about the thought behind addressing the topic of infidelity, Karan Johar reasoned, “I had lost my father right before I directed this film. My father was my conscience keeper, my moral compass. In many ways, I don’t think he would have ever allowed me to direct this film because he was very traditional, conservative man. And, he held Shah Rukh in the highest esteem. When he passed away, I felt like that governance was not there, so I decided to break all boundaries and barriers and make what I want to make. It was me growing up. I felt grown up at the end of this experience.”

When a couple left KANK screening midway

It was at one of the screenings of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna that he realised the film will have haters too. “People say that it was ahead of its time. But I think today, there would be even more turbulence if you released a film about this topic. I took a lead star, I don’t think our audiences are still ready for this kind of a topic, even 19 years later. I remember at the first screening of the film, when Shah Rukh and Rani check into a hotel and get intimate with each other, there was a traditional couple watching the film,” he recalled.

The filmmaker further added, “As soon as they started making love, the wife looked at the husband, and the husband looked at her back and said, ‘Its a dream sequence’. When the couple realised that it wasn’t a dream sequence, they got up and left. That’s when I realised that one section of the audience is going to be deeply offended. There were a lot of polarising views at that time.”

Meanwhile, Karan Johar attended the Marrakech International Film Festival for a ‘Conversation series’ and to present a gala screening of his production Homebound, helmed by Neeraj Ghaywan.