‘Aamir Khan tujhe 6 mahina god mein bithaega, will then say no’: What Aditya Chopra told Kunal Kohli before Fanaa | Bollywood News

5 min readMumbaiMar 18, 2026 07:31 AM In a couple of months, Kunal Kohli’s 2006 romantic thriller Fanaa, starring Aamir Khan and Kajol, will turn 20. Kohli’s third directorial, it had a far more evolved political voice than his first two — Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002) and Hum Tum (2004), which were largely romantic comedies. In this edition of SCREEN Spotlight, Kunal looks back at Fanaa, the challenges of casting and pairing Aamir and Kajol, and breaking the blind girl stereotype with her character Zooni.
Do you think a film like Fanaa can be made today?
Hum Tum and Fanaa are very different, yet we still don’t make films like either of them. It’s just sad heroes and producers are shying away from subjects that are bold and different. Because in Fanaa, the hero isn’t a hero, he’s a villain. It’s the love story of a terror. And there’s no salvation. He gets shot dead the woman he loves and the woman who loves him.
Was Aamir apprehensive of playing a terror?
He loved the script from day 1. In fact, when I wanted to go to Aamir, Adi (Aditya Chopra, producer) wasn’t very keen. He said, “Arey yaar! Wo time pass karega. Tujhe apni god mein bithaega 6 mahine ke liye, phir nahi karega. Bahut time waste hoga. Tumhe time waste karna hai, tum karo.” And things like, “Achha, tumhari ek picture hit ho gayi, tumhe Aamir Khan chahiye?” (laughs). I said I wanted him in the first one too. And since I got Hrithik Roshan in the first one, why should I not go to Aamir Khan now?
Aamir Khan played a terror in Fanaa.
So, there wasn’t comfort there. They didn’t have a very pleasant experience on Darr. They had a fallout. (Aamir was replaced Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya’s father Yash Chopra’s 1993 hit romantic thriller Darr). Aamir heard the story within a week. He asked me to write the script in Urdu insted of English. I finished the draft within a week, but went back to him after two weeks because I didn’t want him to think I wrote the dialogues within a week. He questioned a lot whether I’m the right person to direct because I hadn’t done something like that before. He asked Adi, “If you’ve got a subject like this in your company, why are you not directing it?” Adi said, “Because I don’t think anyone can do it better than Kunal.”
Adi had offered the film to a couple of directors within the company and outside of it, but they didn’t think much of it. In Aamir’s style, the discussions went on for three to four hours. Then I said, “Achha Aamir dekh, bahut baatein ho gayi. I might regret saying this all my life, but do the film only if you’re 100% convinced.” So, he said, after his signature pause, “No, today I’m as convinced of you doing it as I was of Ashutosh Gowariker doing Lagaan (2001).”

Was Kajol also your first choice for Zooni?Story continues below this ad
Actually, no other name came up. When Aamir said yes, then Adi asked him, “Who do you think is the first, second, and third choice for the leading lady?” Aamir said, “Kajol, Kajol, Kajol.” But Adi said, “No, she won’t do it because she’d do Karan’s film, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). And she’d only do one film,” because Nysa (Devgan, daughter) had just been born. Why would she choose Kunal over Karan? Karan and Shah Rukh Khan are home ground for her. Kajol had never worked with me and Aamir. They’d done Ishq (1997), but weren’t paired together.
Kajol and Aamir Kha in a still from Fanaa.
When I was narrating the script to Kajol in her guest room, she got so excited at one point that she dropped her coffee on the bed. Ajay (Devgn, husband) walked in right then and said, “I don’t want to know” (laughs). She said, “I love the script. I’m doing it. I’ll talk to Adi.” I just told Adi, “Don’t ruin it for financial concerns.” So, he just agreed to whatever she asked for. I don’t think it was much of an issue.
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How did you make Kajol comfortable on set? How did you ensure she breaks the ice with Aamir?Story continues below this ad
They were outstanding together, but I had to prep in different ways. Kajol’s first and second takes are the best, just like mine. Aamir starts warming up after the fourth and fifth takes. I had to balance it in a way that I did two to three good camera rehearsals with Aamir before calling Kajol. Their styles are very different. Aamir believes in reading, Kajol doesn’t. We were planning to do readings for five days, but the end of the second day, we’d packed up because that’s not Kajol’s style. But that doesn’t change anything. Their interactions were fabulous.