Karan Johar was recently seen in an engaging conversation with Rani Mukerji, likely at a 30-year celebration event marking Rani Mukerji’s journey in the industry as she promoted her film Mardaani 3. During the chat, the discussion got to their 2006 film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, which explored the undercurrents of emotional binding between couples and revolved around marital infidelity.
The film drew uncomfortable questions from the audience, especially as it morally policed Shah Rukh Khan’s character Dev, who goes on to cheat on his wife Rhe,a played by Preity Zint,a with Maya, portrayed by Rani Mukerji. Karan went on to discuss how these twisted emotions impacted the star cast even beyond the film sets.
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Karan Johar revealed that Preity Zinta began getting personal with her character’s emotional journey, which led him to take her aside for a walk and made her realise that it was happening to Rhea, the character and not her.
He also addressed Abhishek Bachchan’s breaking down, stating, "I remember, at one point, Abhishek broke down. Remember, there was an emotional scene? I remember he broke down. There were moments when I could just see you (Rani) looking sullen and sad. I realised that everyone was going through beats in their heads because the film talks about ground realities and emotional realities, things that people go through but don't like to address. It was a very tumultuous experience."
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Rani Mukherji shared her take
In an interview with ANI, Rani Mukherji called Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna “ahead of its time,” as she reflected on how the film made audiences uncomfortable, emphasising that while India may not have been ready for it then, history remembers films that speak aloud and address truths people choose to ignore.
Rani further shared her take on relationships as portrayed on screen stating that people often put up an act to fit into society’s fabric. “Happiness has blurred somewhere,” she said, adding that the film questioned the idea of glorifying a “good human being” as a husband while ignoring emotional truth something society wasn’t ready to face then and often still avoids today.
She further stated that in spite of being a good human and loving one’s wife there is still more to a relationship. “Just because your husband doesn’t hit you doesn’t make him the best husband. It’s equally important to love a person back,” she said reflecting on to generational conditioning Rani talked about how the previous generation compromised many times and were often taught to be content simply because of their husbands decent nature even if emotional fulfilment was missing .
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Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna which released in theatres in August 2006 brought this uncomfortable truth to the forefront. The film followed Dev (Shah Rukh Khan) and Maya (Rani Mukerji) both locked in unhappy marriages who end up finding love in each other. Their relationship unfolds in a spiral of guilt, jealousy, and heartbreak that clouds their affair. The film also had Amitabh Bachchan , Abhishek Bachchan , Preity Zinta and Kirron Kher in pivotal roles .
