‘Shah Rukh Khan said Kal Ho Naa Ho is rubbish, Devdas is fantastic,’ recalls Nikkhil Advani: ‘He has this habit of saying…’

Nikkhil Advani said that Shah Rukh Khan has a habit of criticising the film he is discussing and compare it with the other film he is working on.

Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Kal Ho Naa Ho released in 2003.

Back in the 1990s, most superstars juggled multiple films at the same time and Shah Rukh Khan, like most of his contemporaries, was known for churning out multiple hits in one year. In a recent interview, Kal Ho Naa Ho director Nikkhil Advani shared how Shah Rukh had a habit of criticising the film he was working on while praising the other film that he was working on simultaneously. Nikkhil was speaking about the time when Shah Rukh thought Kal Ho Naa Ho was “rubbish” but Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas was “fantastic.”

Talking to Galatta Plus, Nikkhil shared, “When we were doing Mohabbatein, or was it Kuch Kuch Hota Hai… I think Mohabbatein, Shah Rukh was shooting for Hey Ram. And Shah Rukh has a habit of coming for a meeting where he says that the film he is making with you is rubbish, you should be seeing the other film. In Kal Ho Naa ho, he said Devdas is fantastic, Kal Ho Naa Ho is rubbish. He has that habit.”

Nikkhil brought this up when he was discussing his upcoming show Freedom At Midnight, which is set in the same time period as Kamal Hassan’s Hey Ram. The film had a cameo by Shah Rukh and the actor did not charge any money for his work in the film.

During the trailer launch of Indian 2 in Mumbai, Kamal had shared, “When we worked together, we were all just people. I don’t see a superstar; he doesn’t see a super director. We are friends. As a matter of fact, Shah Rukh saab made that film (Hey Ram) for free. What more do you need?” Even though Hey Ram wasn’t a big success at the box office, the film was praised by critics of the time. It was also India’s official entry to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category.

In an earlier chat with Colors Cineplex, Kamal had revealed that Shah Rukh did the film in exchange for a wristwatch. He also shared that the actor had the rights of the Hindi version of the film. “He did the film for a wrist watch. He got the rights, he said… But I was so happy, because he deserves it. If it was Rs 100 crore, he deserves another Rs 100 crore for that. I never thought what the value of the film is now, because he deserves it, and he is a partner of Hey Ram, and it’s rightful that the Hindi rights are with him. I’m so glad,” he said.