EXCLUSIVE: Rakesh Roshan reveals why Shah Rukh Khan-Salman Khan starrer Kainaat was renamed Karan Arjun, recalls why Aamir Khan backed out

Rakesh Roshan is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter and actor. He had appeared in 84 films throughout the 1970s and 1980s until 1989. As an actor, he was mostly known for his supporting roles in big-budget films. Later, his prominence increased, and he achieved fame for directing films with titles beginning with the letter “K” since 1987. In an exclusive interview, Rakesh Roshan revealed the original title of the Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan starrer Karan Arjun was Kainaat.

Rakesh Roshan reveals original title of Salman Khan-Shah Rukh Khan led Karan Arjun

When asked if Salman Khan and Shah Rukh were the initial cast for the film Karan Arjun, Rakesh Roshan said, “Pehle Ajay Devgn aur Shah Rukh Khan the. (Ajay and Shah Rukh were my first choice for the film). When I had sent the film’s script to them, it was titled Kainaat. We had announced and an advertising poster was curated featuring both of them with name Kainaat. But due to some reasons Shah Rukh and Salman Khan wanted to change their image and they were telling who would play Karan Arjun’s role. Fir main unko bola aisa hoga nahi, because I am a filmmaker and not a proposal maker. I told them mai aaplog ke saath proposal nahi bana raha hoon. So they left the film and then I signed Salman and Aamir Khan.”

Rakesh Roshan’s Karan Arjun new poster

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He further added, “And then Shah Rukh came back to me and said he wanted to do the film. But I had locked my dates for after a month and everything was planned. Then Aamir came up to me and said he can shoot after 6 months as he was working on some other picture and wanted to finish that. Then I went to Aamir and explained him the situation and he said me to go ahead with Shah Rukh and Salman as dates were aligning and assured me that we would work in some other film. We faced difficulties before starting the shooting the film, but eventually everything went smooth.”

Rakesh Roshan on film’s name change

Talking about why did the film’s name changed from Kainaat to Karan Arjun, Rakesh Roshan says, “When I gave the script to my dialogue writer, he found the story very novel. He said such a story is neither made in Hollywood nor in India so people won’t understand the title Kainaat. That’s when he said me to name the film Karan Arjun. When I also heard the title Karan Arjun, it sounded nice and was also rhyming. So we went ahead with it.“

Interview to be live tomorrow

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