Filmmaker Rakesh Roshan Spills the Beans on Casting Trouble, Shah Rukh Khan Departure and Karan Arjun Saga Legacy
he movie has been nearly three decades since the first release in big screens way back in the 1995 premiere. This November 22, 2024, the eternal Bollywood film Karan Arjun will release into the theatres. It will try reminding film lovers about the influence of the film and whether it can work with new generations of audiences. Speaking exclusively to SCREEN, Rakesh Roshan talks about the journey of making Karan Arjun, the casting hurdles, and how it finally went on to become a landmark Indian film.
A Bold Experiment
Rakesh Roshan had called the Karan Arjun re-release a “social experiment” and said he would gauge audience reaction towards a culture phenomenon of the 1990s. “The world has changed so much in 30 years. People consume content differently now, but emotions are always universal. I want to see if the story of Karan Arjun still stirs the same feelings,” he said.
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Something of its time”, says Roshan, who feels that the two leading romantic heroes were Shah Rukh and Salman, who didn’t have much experience to their name. “They were put in an action role”, he adds. “Nobody believed in this project, not even my distributors. They were apprehensive because the leads were seen as romantic stars. The only people who had faith in the story were my dialogue writer and me”, he shared.
Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn Walk Out
Karan Arjun had it bad during its initial run. Its star cast walked out on the film. According to Rakesh Roshan, he has Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan doing it for him initially before they walked out due to creative differences. “Ajay can explain why he backed out, but Shah Rukh had a very valid reason.”. He wanted to do the role I had given to Ajay and Ajay wanted to do Shah Rukh’s role. And they were enamored of doing away with their respective images, which is not why I’m making the film. The characters have to be true to the story, he explained.
He finally did away with Shah Rukh and Ajay and put Aamir Khan and Salman Khan in their place. But much later Shah Rukh came to Roshan and asked him to get back. “Shah Rukh came back and told me that he couldn’t sleep that night because he felt he had made the wrong decision. He admitted that he still didn’t believe much in the story, but trusting me and wanted to work with me,” said Roshan. At this juncture, Aamir Khan himself made a halt to let way for Shah Rukh’s comeback.
Kajol Hitches aboard
Once Shah Rukh and Salman zeroed in on their proposal, the hunt for the heroine began. Shah Rukh Khan felt that Kajol is a “comfortable and talented” co-star. Rakesh Roshan listened to what Shah Rukh Khan had to say and settled upon Kajol, which Kajol played quite aptly.
Now, there were no vanity vans and team for each little detail. They did not even have a common make-up artist and hairdresser. Lunch taken together, and much bonding on long outdoor shoots. A kind of a family working, he said.
Challenges and Triumphs
Not a cakewalk, to say the least. “The industry did not believe the film would succeed. Distributors didn’t believe it will work,” says Rakesh Roshan. “Because it had an unconventional lead pair that did all the action, romance and other work.” “The industry did not believe in the film but the audience proved everyone wrong. They accepted the story wholeheartedly,” Roshan said with pride.
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The movie was titled Kainaat but finally changed to Karan Arjun as the team felt the name wouldn’t connect easily with any audience. The new name put this position on the movie and entrenched it in history.
The Possibility of Reunifying Superstars
Not a day goes by without somebody popping up to ask if this film, with contemporary stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, is possible. Optimistically so, says Rakesh Roshan, “It is definitely possible if the script is well-balanced and gives equal weightage to both characters. Being an erstwhile actor, I understand the importance of creating roles that resonate with all the stars involved,” he said.
Rohan felt Karan Arjun had achieved this balance that would become the bedrock of its success. “Both Shah Rukh and Salman had roles that complemented each other, and neither overshadowed the other. That’s why it worked,” he explained.
A Legacy Rekindled
Karan Arjun was a superhit not only in the film but also marked an unprecedented and unparalleled film in Indian cinema. It was the first film in which the son of Rakesh Roshan, Hrithik Roshan, came as assistant director—his launching pad to attain superstardom. Its themes of reincarnation, love for family, and justice are sure to tug at the hearts of the audience, making the film timeless.
Roshan of Rakesh Roshan is eagerly waiting to see how people of this generation will react to his film as he is readying himself for its re-release. “Emotions in the film are universal- love, revenge, and sacrifice. I believe that these emotions are timeless. It will be interesting to know if the audience of today also connects with it in the same way,” he said.
Conclusion
The movie itself cannot get any dramatic and inspiring, but the story about the birth of Karan Arjun is as well. From losing its original cast to the shine of being one of Bollywood’s most beloved movies, the journey was no easy ride. Rakesh Roshan’s resolve and conviction in the storyline managed to convert sceptics into believers and evolved a heritage that still continues on.
With its much-awaited re-release, Karan Arjun promises to hook audiences back once again with that fine proof: great stories do not really age; they live on generation after generation.