‘Hum Tum‘ directed by Kunal Kohli is considered a milestone film in Saif Ali Khan‘s career. Not only was the film his first solo hit in a while, it also won him a National Award. It saw him opposite Rani Mukerji and continues to remain a cult classic today. The film had released in 2004 and also starred Rishi Kapoor and Rati Agnihotri. Rishi had played Saif’s father in the movie but it was like an extended cameo with just seven scenes.
Director Kunal Kohli has now revealed that when Rishi heard the script, he refused to do the movie due to less scenes. He said in an interview with Aleena Dissects, “When I narrated the role to Rishi Kapoor, he said ‘I am not doing this’. When I asked why, he said ‘Guest appearance hai, mujhe nahi karna, kya hai? Bakwas hai. Saat toh scene diye tune mereko, nahi karna mujhe’. (It’s just a guest appearance. I don’t want to do this. Nonsense. You gave me just seven scenes, I don’t want to.)”
Kohli then convinced him to at least hear the scenes and then decide. “Then he went ‘this is nice, this is also nice’. He said ‘give me some more scenes. Why should I do a guest appearance?’ I said ‘sir, I can have you in more scenes, you will just be hanging around. Here, every time you come, there is an impact’. I said ‘every scene of yours… there is an impact, every dialogue has an impact. I said I can add ten more scenes but they won’t have an impact. Then he said ‘Haan theek hai chalo karte hain (Let’s do it).’”
In the same interview, Kohli revealed that Yash Chopra just gave him and Aditya Chopra Rs 7.5 crore to make the film. Kunal’s earlier film ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’ was mounted on a big budget and starred Rani, Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. But it did not do well at the box office. Hence, this time aroud, the budget was less to make it. However, ‘Hum Tum’ turned out to be a huge hit.
