Shah Rukh Khan ‘absolutely hated’ his death scene in Kal Ho Naa Ho, said the one in Devdas was better: Nikkhil Advani

Shah Rukh Khan told director Nikkhil Advani that he hated his death scene in Kal Ho Naa Ho, and compared it with the one in Devdas.

Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani has revealed that his Kal Ho Naa Ho star Shah Rukh Khan ‘absolutely hated’ his death scene in the film, and compared it unfavourably to the one in Devdas, which he had just filmed.

Reema Lagoo and Shah Rukh Khan in Kal Ho Naa Ho.

In an interview, Nikkhil spoke about what he told Shah Rukh at the time. After working as an assistant director for a decade, Nikkhil made his directorial debut with Kal Ho Naa Ho, which also featured Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan.

Asked about the importance of death scenes in Shah Rukh's films, he told Film Companion, “Yes, but Shah Rukh absolutely hated the death scene of Kal Ho Naa Ho. He kept saying, ‘You’re too irreverent, not giving it any respect’. He was also shooting Devdas at the same time in which he had a spectacular death scene. He kept saying, ‘Usse kehte hain death scene (Now that's a death scene’. I explained to him that I was looking at death as a comma, not a full stop.”

After D-Day, Nikkhil directed films such as Batla House and produced films such as Airlift and BellBottom. He also co-directed the Amazon Prime Video series Mumbai Diaries 26/11 alongside Nikhil Gonsalves.