Subhash Ghai reveals how Hrithik Roshan’s success after ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ reshaped ‘Yaadein’: ‘Had to retain his star presence in the film’
As ‘Yaadein’ completes 25 years, filmmaker Subhash Ghai has looked back on the making of the 2001 family drama, revealing how Hrithik Roshan’s meteoric rise after ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ transformed the film in unexpected ways. Ghai also opened up about how a mismatch in marketing affected audience expectations despite the film’s emotional core. Recalling the inspiration behind ‘Yaadein’, Ghai said he deliberately chose a different genre after the success of ‘Taal’. Instead of another grand entertainer, he wanted to tell a heartfelt story centred on a father and his three daughters.Talking to Variety India, he shared, “I have a habit of making a film of a different genre after delivering a hit. After making ‘Saudagar’, ‘Khalnayak’, ‘Pardes’, and ‘Taal’, I wanted to tell a story about a father and three daughters, and about his responsibility for getting them married. I always try to do something different with every film. So, I thought I’d make a small film after ‘Taal’, with Jackie Shroff and three new girls.“
Hrithik Roshan joined before becoming a superstar
Ghai revealed that Hrithik Roshan came on board before the phenomenal success of ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’. The filmmaker was initially hesitant because the actor’s role in ‘Yaadein’ was limited, but Hrithik agreed after understanding the script.“Around the time I announced the film, filmmaker Rakesh Roshan met me at a party and asked me to cast his son, Hrithik. I saw the rushes of ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, and was impressed, but I told him I had only a limited role in ‘Yaadein’. Rakesh sent Hrithik to meet me the next day. When he came to my house, I told him ‘Yaadein’ was about a father and three daughters. Since he was playing the main lead in ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, I left it up to him whether he’d want to play a secondary character in my film. I explained the role and told him he would appear only in the second half. Hrithik agreed to do it.”
Kareena Kapoor accepted an unconventional role
Kareena Kapoor also surprised Ghai with her willingness to be part of an ensemble rather than a conventional heroine-centric role.“I met Kareena at a party. She told me she was doing JP Dutta’s ‘Refugee’ and that she wanted to work with me too. She said she was okay being one of the three girls. I liked that both Hrithik and Kareena were so professional about it, so I signed them both at my Bandra office for a modest fee. That evening, I got calls from Babitaji, Kareena’s mother, and Pinkieji, Hrithik’s mother; both were excited that I’d signed their children. I told them upfront not to get too excited, as ‘Yaadein’ was not a hero-heroine film.”
Overnight success forced major script changes
According to Ghai, everything changed after ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ turned Hrithik into an overnight sensation. The unexpected stardom prompted the team to revisit the screenplay and expand his character’s presence.“Hrithik became a big star with ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, and the dynamics changed overnight. I had already shot with him, and our team was worried because his role was confined to the second half of ‘Yaadein’. We discussed it with the writers and decided we had to retain his star presence in the film while still keeping the core story of the father and three daughters intact. That’s why we rewrote the script and brought him into the first half as well. To their credit, both Hrithik and Kareena cooperated. By the time I finished ‘Yaadein’, it was a fairly revised version of the original script, and I could see I was walking a dangerous line.”
Marketing created different audience expectations
Ghai believes the promotional campaign unintentionally positioned the film as a romantic drama, whereas its emotional focus lay elsewhere.“I told my publicist to position ‘Yaadein’ as a father-daughter story, not a love story between Hrithik and Kareena. But the publicist made three posters, two featuring the father and daughters, and one of Hrithik and Kareena. The distributors, naturally, pushed only the Hrithik-Kareena poster. So, the audience went in expecting a love story, and instead watched a film about a father and his three daughters. The film suffered initially in India because of this mismatch, though it did well overseas. Domestically, it took a while to recover its costs.”
Looking back without regrets
Despite the challenges, Ghai believes every film has its own journey and destiny. He admitted balancing Hrithik’s newfound stardom with the original narrative wasn’t easy, but remains proud of the final outcome.“We had to project him as a star in the film, otherwise, audiences would have been disappointed. It was a tricky situation, so we did what we could and changed the screenplay. Every film comes with its own destiny. As a filmmaker, you just have to stay sincere to the story. I’m proud of ‘Yaadein’, and of the fact that its title song is still remembered today.”
Brand integrations also came under scrutiny
The filmmaker also addressed criticism over product placements in the film, explaining that only a handful of brands were ultimately included despite receiving dozens of offers.“I had already done brand integration in ‘Taal’. For ‘Yaadein’, we had 46 brand offers on the table, and I used only five or six. The thing is, when the screenplay slows down, audiences start noticing these things. Nobody noticed the Coca-Cola placement in ‘Taal’ because the screenplay was tight. We were paid substantial money for it at the time. Every decision has a reason behind it, and you only find out if it was the right one once you see the results.“
