14 Years of Koi Mil Gaya: Was Rishi Kapoor offered the role of Hrithik Roshan’s father?

The 2003 film Koi... Mil Gaya will always be counted among the most iconic films in the Hindi film industry. Right from introducing the Indian audience to cutting-edge special effects to melodious songs, the film was a hit with everyone. Actor Hrithik Roshan (Rohit Mehra) played the role of a mentally-challenged guy with sensibilities of an 11-year old. He accidentally contacts extra-terrestrial beings through his scientist father’s computer (played by his real-life dad, director Rakesh Roshan) and his life changes when one of the beings, Jaadu, is left behind on Earth and comes in contact with him. Preity Zinta played the role of Nisha, while the child-gang, who are friends with Hrithik, too gained instant fame upon the film’s release.

The film was not only a big hit at the box-office, but critics too showered praises upon Hrithik for his terrific acting. As the film completes 14 years of its release on August 8, here are seven lesser-known facts about the film:

1. The popular character of the film, Jaadu, was played by Indravadan Purohit. Dressed in the costume, with an animatronic headgear, he couldn’t see anything and had to rely on instructions to move around. Purohit died in 2014.

2. Actor Rishi Kapoor was initially approached to play the role of Hrithik’s father by director Rakesh Roshan. Rishi, who had mentioned the whole episode in his recently-released autobiography, wrote that the two had a fallout after Rishi saw the role as a ‘bad career move’ and refused to do it. Finally, Rakesh himself starred in the film.

3. The character of Jaadu became so wildly popular, that a spin-off TV series was aired in India with him in the lead. It was called J Bole Toh Jaadoo.

4. Hrithik’s character undergoes a physical transformation in the film, and it was not possible for him to gain and lose weight so quickly. The problem was solved with baggy clothes that hid his real proportions. A special hairstyle further made his face look thinner.

5. We all know the ending of the film where Jaadu leaves and gives Rohit his special powers. But did you know that the makers earlier had shot a different ending? In the alternate ending, the alien took away all the powers with him.

6. The film was believed to be ‘inspired’ from the 1982 Hollywood flick E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, in which a lonely boy befriends an extraterrestrial being, nicknamed ET, who is stranded on earth, and how the boy and his friends help him go back to his home.

7. Actor Hrithik Roshan, like his character in the film, had himself faced a lot of bullying as a child. The 43-year old had a major stammering problem, and has confessed that his childhood days were “like hell”. The scene in which some bullies break Rohit’s bicycle is said to be inspired from a real-life incident in Hrithik’s life.