When a producer offered Farah Khan Rs 10 crore to cast his son in ‘Happy New Year ‘
When a producer offered Farah Khan Rs 10 crore to cast his son in ‘Happy New Year ‘
Wedded to film industry for decades, Farah Khan is a treasure cache of stories.
The choreographer-filmmaker recentlt recalled about being offered Rs 10 crore by a producer to cast his son in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Happy New Year. Farah mentioned this to comedian and writer Zakir Khan, whom she invited for lunch at her residence. She revealed that she blatantly declined the offer, instead cast Vivaan Shah, the son of Naseerudin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, in the role.
She recounted, believe it or not, amidst Happy New Year, a producer offered her Rs 10 crore to cast his son. Being a ‘Jhansi Ki Rani,’ she said, she will never do this and won’t do injustice to the film. What if Shah Rukh gets to know that she took Rs 10 crore to cast him in the film? She cast Vivaan Shah in the film because she thought she will take the person who fits perfectly in the character and the film.
Happy New Year was Farah Khan’s fourth and her last directorial venture, following Tees Maar Khan, Main Hoon Na, and Om Shanti Om. This film marked her third collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan. The action-comedy was produced by Gauri Khan under the banner of Red Chillies Entertainment.
Farah Khan furthet recalls feeling like ‘charity case’ after father’s bankruptcy. She and Sajid were the ‘poor cousins’ of the family and were rocking.
Apart from SRK and Vivaan, the film also featured Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, and Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles.
With a total budget of Rs 140 crore, Happy New Year grossed Rs 408 crore at the box office. However, it received negative reviews from critics for its writing and lengthy runtime.
News Edit K.V.Raman
