Kunal Kohli recalls how Rani Mukerji-Saif Ali Khan gave ‘worst kiss of Hindi cinema’, didn’t get along on Hum Tum set

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli shared that Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji lacked camaraderie while filming Hum Tum.

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli’s Hum Tum, which released 22 years ago, remains one of the most iconic love stories of that era. But while audiences couldn’t get enough of Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji’s chemistry in the film, the filmmaker recently revealed that the two simply had “zero camaraderie” during the shooting of the film.

Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in a still from Hum Tum.

‘Saif and Rani didn’t like each other’

Speaking to NDTV, Kunal Kohli also revealed how he pushed Rani and Saif to become friendlier with each other. He shared, "They were not particularly fond of each other off-screen. For the first half of the shoot it felt like team Rani and me, and Saif alone. Saif and I didn't like each other and Saif and Rani didn't like each other. Then Saif and I spoke throughout the Amsterdam schedule. I said, 'Listen, this film is very important. If it doesn't work, you will not be a solo hero. You'll only be doing second leads to Shah Rukh Khan like in Kal Ho Naa Ho. So let's make this work.'" The director admitted that after that warning to Saif, everyone eventually got along much better on the set.

‘Worst kisses of Hindi cinema’

Kunal also recalled how Rani initially refused to do the kissing scene during the film’s song “Saanson Ko Saanson Mein” and ended up laughing during the take. He shared, "We were shooting that whole night. At first she said she wouldn't do the kiss. Finally she said, 'Okay, I'll do one take.' If you watch the take she's actually laughing; she's lying on her side and moving because she's laughing. When I saw it in the edit I thought, she's laughing. So yeah, it's got to be one of the worst kisses of Hindi cinema."

About Hum Tum

Hum Tum was produced by Aditya Chopra, now Rani Mukerji’s husband, under the Yash Raj Films banner. While the film starred Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in lead roles, Rishi Kapoor, Kirron Kher, Rati Agnihotri and Jimmy Shergill played supporting characters. The film was loosely inspired by the American movie When Harry Met Sally.

During the shooting of Hum Tum, Rani was already a major star, but the film significantly changed Saif’s career trajectory. The actor became widely credited as Bollywood’s first “metrosexual” hero. Saif also won the National Award for Best Actor that year for his performance in the film -- his first National Award.