Aamir Khan Was 1st Choice for Saif Ali Khan's Hum Tum, Hrithik Roshan Said No for THIS Reason

It’s been twenty years since Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji starred in the fun rom-com, Hum Tum. The fun banter on gender differences, as two strangers met and fell in love, made the film memorable. Now, as it celebrates its 20th anniversary, director Kunal Kohli revisits its creation, a movie that changed romantic comedies in Hindi cinema. Hum Tum, inspired by the 1998 film When Harry Met Sally, started the trend of modern romantic comedies in Bollywood, which continued throughout the decade.

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, the filmmaker discussed the casting challenges the film faced. Initially considered by Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Vivek Oberoi, the film ultimately landed on Saif Ali Khan, who surprised everyone by winning the National Award for his performance.

He recalled, “I don’t remember if we approached him [Aamir] before or after Hrithik. But Aamir was going through his divorce with Reena and told us, ‘I am not even in that frame of mind right now. It is a rom-com, I am not sure, I will give it a miss.’ He wasn’t in that space. So we were like ok no problem. Then Vivek Oberoi was actually doing the film. He had said yes for the film, so he was on, but things didn’t work out and then he wasn’t on. He was doing City of Joy and a lot of other things, so we were just not getting the dates. It just didn’t work out. Then we left that chapter.”

Kunal recalled that after Mujhse Dosti Karoge, he narrated the script to Hrithik Roshan. He liked the script but said that there was uncertainty about his current film projects and his suitability for the role. “He loved the script. He said, ‘I am not confident of the films I am doing right now, I don’t know how many of them will work or what will happen to them, and I don’t know whether I am in the right frame of mind to do this.’ He said to wait for a couple of his films to release and then let’s take a call. But Adi felt it would be too long to wait for two years, see how his films fare and then decide, so he suggested we let this go. Because even Hrithik wasn’t sure if he will do it, he was very honest that he is not sure if he is right for this space,” said Kunal.

Hum Tum released two weeks after Hrithik Roshan’s Lakshya.