Article Updated 06 June, 2004 12:07:40 AM IST   Interview: Kunal Kohli By Atul Sharma ©2004 Bollyvista.com   Kunal Kohli shot to fame with videos like 'Mera Long Gawacha', 'Chui Mui See Tum Lagti Ho' etc. He became a more familiar name with programmes like Philips Top Ten and Chalo Cinema. He got his first break with Yash Raj Films' MUJHSE DOSTI KAROGE starring Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerjee. Though the film did wonderfully well overseas, it failed in India. But Yash Raj Films had immense confidence in his talent and gave him another opportunity in HUM TUM. Vivek Oberoi, the original choice of the film, was to be replaced by Saif Ali Khan. It was a tricky situation to cast Saif solo. Fortunately, thanks to Kunal's grit the film has turned out to be the first solo hit of Saif. A relieved Kunal Kohli speaks on.... HUM TUM was a difficult subject to handle. Did you anticipate such a wide acceptance for the film? Frankly speaking, the last two years have been very tough on me. Despite having Hrithik, Kareena and Rani Mukerjee and Yash Raj Films banner, I had given a flop Mujhse Dosti Karoge. So I had hoped and prayed that Hum Tum works. Honestly, we all believed that it is a film more for the urban audience, but I am glad that it is doing well in most parts of the country. Despite failure in India, MUJHSE DOSTI KAROGE did smashing business overseas. Was that factor responsible for your getting one more film from Yash Raj banner? Though Mujhse Dosti Karoge did fantastic business abroad, Yash Raj Films gave me one more film because they truly believed in my talent. It's always comfortable to work with like-minded people. I and Aditya think on the same wave length. And they are not the people who will desert you when you are in the dumps. Yash Chopra himself has seen ups and downs in his career. He knows the value of talented and like-minded people. No wonder then that he is the only one who is still going strong even after 5 decades in the business. Vivek Oberoi was the original choice for the film, but finally Saif replaced him. Why? I don't want to talk about that chapter. But don't you think it came as a blessing in disguise as Saif Ali did a wonderful job and is the high point of HUM TUM? I call it destiny. I think Saif was born to do the film. Sometimes, things happen the way you want it, sometimes they don't. With all your hard work and talent, sometimes hit and good films happen. You just can't plan them. It wasn't an easy decision to cast Saif solo in a Yash Chopra film. But we took the decision and luckily it worked. What do you think worked in favour of HUM TUM? Yash Raj Films always try different sort of films. Lamhe was different from Chandni, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge was different from Darr, Mohabbatein was different from Dil To Pagal Hai. Hence, they all worked. Mujhse Dosti Karoge was surely not a new film, it was old fashioned which didn't work. I tried to make a formula film where I try to borrow things from Sooraj Barjatya, Yash Chopra, Aaditya Chopra and Karan Johar's styles of making. So there wasn't any stamp of mine and Mujhse Dosti Karoge failed. But this time around, I decided to make somehting I believed in and felt comfortable with and fortuantely, it worked. So the maker should always stick to what he believes in and comfortable with... Of course. Look at some other successful films of the year. Take the case of Masti. Indra Kumar was back to his own style and made a comeback. Farah Khan believed in Manmohan Desai, Nasir Husain kind of film-making and delivered that kind of film in Main Hoon Na and enjoyed success. So the maker should never deviate from is style of film-making. How did you manage to get guest appearances of stars for HUM TUM so effectively? I needed some strong but sober personality and hence I chose Abhishek Bachchan. I needed Amol Palekar kind of character and I opted for Jimmy Shergill and also I needed a bold happy-go-lucky type of girl which Isha Koppikar fitted well. And who better than Rishi Kapoor to play a flirtatious romantic father? The last half hour of HUM TUM is extremely dull... I was very scared of my second half, particularly last half hour. But after all the entertainment, I had to conclude the film on an emotional note. I couldn't make it faster and I couldn't remove anything. I am thankful that the audience sat through that phase. Any plans of directing a film for any other banner? Not at all. I am happy with Yash Raj Films. They supported me all along and there is no reason why I should go for any outside banner.   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/34/2743