Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had to turn down 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' because of 'Aa Ab Laut Chalen'

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Karan Johar may have finally collaborated nine years ago on Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), but their creative journey began much earlier. The actor revealed that before Ae Dil Hai Mushkil with Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma they had attempted thrice to work together before that but things didn’t materialize despite their long-standing friendship.

The actor in her conversation with Hindustan Times revealed that Karan first approached her with a role while he was making his debut film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). “I couldn’t do the movie because I was shooting for Aa Ab Laut Chalen. I was on a 40-day schedule in the United States of America. It was Chintu uncle’s (Rishi Kapoor) first film as a director. I’m a fan of his, and I looked up to him. I just couldn’t mess things up with him,” she says.


Karan also approached Aishwarya for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), but things didn’t work out. “He narrated the story and told me about the character, but we didn’t end up working together. We almost worked on another movie, but that too didn’t take off. He narrates stories of most of his films to me.”

Nearly two decades after their first attempt, fate finally aligned for the duo with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil which was a major success at the box office. It has been about two years since Asihwarya has graced the silver screen, her last outing was Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan 2 which was very well received by fans and critics. As she turns a year older today, one only wishes for her to be back on the big screen.