‘Kareena was asked to leave Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’: When Ameesha revealed reason behind Bebo’s exit from Hrithik’s film

As Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai turns 25, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the time Ameesha Patel revealed the real reason behind Kareena Kapoor’s exit from the film

25 years ago today, the Greek God of Bollywood Hrithik Roshan began his journey in the Hindi film industry as an actor with Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). Apart from portraying two very different characters and winning hearts with his smooth as butter dance moves, Hrithik left the audience in awe with his cute chemistry with co-star Ameesha Patel. They were adorable together as Rohit/Raj and Sonia! But as most movie-buffs know, the film was initially planned with Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead. As the film completes 25 years, let’s revisit the real reason why Bebo was replaced by Ameesha.

Kareena Kapoor, not Ameesha Patel, was the first choice for Hrithik Roshan's Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai

For the longest time, reports suggested that Kareena had walked out of the film because of a ‘misunderstanding’ between her mother Babita Kapoor and Hrithik’s filmmaker father Rakesh Roshan. However, many years later in a chat with Bollywood Bubble, Ameesha claimed that Bebo had not walked out of the film but was asked to leave. Ameesha was quoted saying, “Actually, she (Kareena) didn’t back out. From what Rakesh ji told me, he asked her to leave the film because they were having differences.” Well, the filmmaker never made this claim and only called Babita's 'interference' the root cause in interviews. After Kareena’s exit from the project, Rakesh roped in Ameesha within 3 days.

Do you think Hrithik and Kareena’s chemistry could have outperformed Hrithik and Ameesha’s jodi if they were cast together in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai?