EXCLUSIVE: Did Rakesh Roshan throw Kareena Kapoor out of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai? Ameesha Patel’s SHOCKING confession

Ameesha Patel had a dream debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in the 2000 release Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. The Rakesh Roshan directorial made the two overnight stars. However, it’s a known story that Ameesha wasn’t the first choice for the film. Kareena Kapoor was initially supposed to make her debut with the role that was later done by Ameesha Patel. While the world knows one story about it, Ameesha gave a completely new side to it in her recent conversation with Bollywood Bubble.

Ameesha Patel on Rakesh Roshan letting Kareena Kapoor go from Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai

The story that has been out till now is that Kareena opted out of the film at the last moment. However, Ameesha makes a shocking confession that it was indeed Rakesh ji who let Kareena go from the film. She shared, “Actually she didn’t back out. Mr Rakesh Roshan, from what he told me was that, he asked her to leave the film because they were having differences. In fact Pinky Aunty, Rakesh uncle’s wife and Hrithik’s mom, said we were shocked. The set was ready and how will you find a Sonia in three days? Crores of rupees on that set and you know they’ll have to be dismantled. What we do with the film and it was Hrithik’s debut and everyone was really stressed.”

Kareena then went on to debut with Abhishek Bachchan in Refugee. However, there is still one scene kept in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai where Kareena is there. That scene is at the beach.

How Ameesha landed the role

But when things seemed bleak, Rakesh ji spotted Ameesha at a wedding and found her Sonia. The actress was at that time working in the stock market and had gone for a wedding. Rakesh ji saw her there and invited her with her mother for lunch. She informed, “He didn’t tell me anything about the film and after lunch, over a cup of green tea, he said ‘so would you like to do films?’ And I was like ‘huh where is this coming from?’ He said I want to launch you with my son.”

Ameesha revealed that once in passing when she was young, Rakesh ji had involuntarily manifested that. She shared, “Actually years before, he had told my family that jab Ameesha badi hogi, he had seen me dancing at a sangeet, to main usko zarur Hrithik ke saath launch karunga. (He saw me dancing at a sangeet and told my family he will one day launch me with his son). I was only 13-14 years old and my family was like ‘no no no, our girls don’t enter film industry’. She’s a brilliant student, she’ll go abroad and study and join the family business.”

The day Rakesh ji saw Ameesha, he had a sleepless night. The actress disclosed, “The day he saw me at the wedding, Pinky Aunty actually told me this, she said that Rakesh did not sleep all night. He was like ‘I’ve got my Sonia, I’ve got my Sonia, I’ve got my Sonia but now I hope she says yes’. That was the whole feeling. That’s why when he told Hritik that tomorrow someone’s coming and she’s going to be Sonia, I didn’t know this pre-story had happened.”

Ameesha’s meeting with Hrithik

It was during the lunch that Rakesh ji invited Ameesha over for, that she met Hrithik after a long time. She recalled, “Hrithik, I had seen after a gap of many years and he’d metamorphized into this Greek God from a lanky teenager that I knew him. I walked into the room and I was like ‘wow you look hot’. And I started calling him Pierce after the meeting that we had. I didn’t know that I had left for washroom and he did this (thumbs up) to his dad that you found the girl.”

Ameesha eventually said yes to the role, but was again taken aback when she got to know when she starts shooting. She remembered, “Believe it or not, when I asked Rakesh Uncle when do we go on set, six months right? He said, no 3 days, set khada hai. (The set is ready). So, I had virtually no training at all. I had no clue how to face a camera. I just let myself loose and did whatever I thought was right.”

The actress got to know all these stories after she signed Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Kareena Kapoor leaving the film close to shoot, and then her being found, Ameesha Patel calls it all destiny. She concluded, “I was meant to be. Rakesh Uncle always says this girl paid attention to everything that I told her, taught her and followed me to the T. He always gives me the credit and praises and says she was a blessing in disguise. So I guess I was just destined to be here.” Post KNPH, Ameesha gave successes like Gadar and Humraaz. Currently, she is basking in the magnanimous success of Gadar 2.

You can watch the entire conversation with Ameesha Patel here:

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Ameesha Patel recalls being judged for doing Gadar, Humraaz: People claimed I was murdering my career