Actor Ameesha Patel, who is currently enjoying the success of her latest release ‘Gadar 2’, talked about her Bollywood debut along with Hrithik Roshan in ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ in 2000.
In an interview with Pinkvilla, she revealed how many in the film industry were against the release of the film as they thought it would not be able to match up to the other two big releases- Shah Rukh Khan's ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’ and Aamir Khan's ‘Mela’.
Ameesha said, ‘But everyone was against the launch because everyone had no faith in Hrithik (Roshan) because, at the same time, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan's son Abhishek Bachchan was being launched, I was a non-filmy, he was being launched with Kareena so this was a very underdog project till of course Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai actually came to the screens. People asked Mr. Rakesh Roshan to change the release date because we had Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan's films Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Mela before and after us.’
Ameesha added director Rakesh Roshan trusted his film from the beginning and did not respond to the critical opinions.
She said, ‘People asked Rakesh, 'How can you bring these two nobodies in between two hurricanes of films.' And Rakesh uncle said, 'I'm not going to change. I have faith in my film.' That was enough for me and Hrithik that our director had faith in us. It was enough for me that such a big director like Rakesh Roshan was risking his career and his son's career with a new girl like me. So that gave me the confidence that he (Rakesh Roshan) has faith in me, duniya ki maat suno, give your best to your film and that's all. And, the rest is history.’
‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ emerged to become an overnight success and won several awards. Hrithik has now established himself as one of the leading stars of his generation.
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