19 years of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai: SRK and Rani Mukerji’s onscreen daughter recalls how KJo made her cry

Actor Sana Saeed, who played SRK and Rani Mukerji’s daughter, Anjali, in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, goes down memory lane and recalls what it was like shooting for the film, which celebrates 19 years of it’s release today.

Actor Sana Saeed had a dream debut in the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai! (1998). The iconic film, starring Sana as Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji’s daughter Anjali Khanna completes 19 years of its release today. Ask Sana about the film, and she gets excited. “Oh My God! Time went by too fast, and you’re making me feel very old now!”, laughs the 29-year old.

Sana Saeed, who was ten when she shot the film, is 29-years-old now.

Sana with Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan in a still from the film.

“It’s on television all year long — every two weeks, in fact. Whatever scene I catch up with, I get to relive those moments all over again. I had an amazing crew, and I had grown up watching all these stars — Shah Rukh, Kajol, Rani and Salman Khan, who are still at the peak of their careers after these 19 years. I remember having a thrill with 30-50 other children on the set. It never felt like work.” Ask her about her fondest memories, she says, “I don’t remember everything exactly, but I am still reminded of the muhurat shot. It was at a dentist’s, but the shot wasn’t actually used in the film, it was edited out. I was finally able to see it for the first time when it was put on the internet .I remember seeing Amitabh Bachchan, his daughter (Shweta) and a lot of other people. As I was a child at that time, I didn’t realise who all I was surrounded by!”

Sana with Salman Khan on the set of the film.

She adds how Karan was as a director. “He is the most amazing ever. I have met him a gazillion times, ever since I starred in his film Student Of the Year (2012). For the emotional scenes in KKHH, he would try to mentally put me in a space, telling me ‘What if you didn’t have a mother?’ when my mom was right in front of me! Today’s kids are much smarter, they can figure out the emotions required. But I still didn’t get it as a child that why did I have to cry so much?! ”

Telling us how the film is still so fresh in everyone’s minds, people still tend to call her by her on-screen name, Anjali. She says, “When I reached Las Vegas for my higher studies, an Indian couple staying in the house next to mine came and said ‘You are that girl from Kuch Kuch hota Hai’! I still can’t come to terms with the fact that people remember me as that little girl from the film.”

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