Hrithik Mania Wouldn't Have Gripped India Had Rakesh Roshan Stuck With The Original Cast Of Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai!

On 14th January, 2000, Bollywood had got one of its major stars. On this day, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai released and the country was instantly hooked to one name- Hrithik Roshan. While girls wanted a boy like Rohit in their lives, boys just admired the new actor who could act, and dance and also had a physique to die for. The country was gripped with Hrithik mania and he became an overnight sensation.

But did you know that Hrithik wasn't the first choice for dad Rakesh Roshan? Yes, you read that right.

Many people think that Rakesh Roshan had made Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai to launch his son and wrote the story around a character that Hrithik could pull off. But that wasn't the case.

The original choice for Raj and Rohit was Shah Rukh Khan. Rakesh Roshan had written the story keeping SRK on mind. In fact, SRK was also approached for the film, but he could not sign it because of his other commitments. It was then that Hrithik said that he had done many films with the Khans and suggested that he should give a chance to someone new. It was at that point that Rakesh Roshan thought of casting Hrithik himself.

Even for the female cast, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had been approached. Later it was given to Kareena Kapoor, who even shot a few films. It was after that Ameesha had been cast.

Initially, Ameesha was also doubtful since her parents had said no to the film. But she finally became a part of the cast, along with mom Asha Patel, who played Hrithik's mom on screen!

The film was a blockbuster and went on to win 92 awards, making it to the Guinness Book of World Records 2002 edition for winning the most number of awards for a movie. Hrithik Roshan also became the first and the only actor to win Best debut award and best actor award in the same year!