Ameesha Patel reveals industry was against Hrithik Roshan’s debut amid Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Mela’s release
Ameesha Patel is enjoying the success of her latest release Gadar 2. The actor, who made her Bollywood debut along with Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai in 2000, revealed in an interview with Pinkvilla how many in the film industry were against the release of the film. Ameesha revealed that it was the director Rakesh Roshan’s confidence in the film that helped her during that time. (Also read: Gadar 2 box office day 8 collection: Sunny Deol’s film enters ₹300 crore club, mints nearly ₹20 cr)
What Ameesha said
In an interview with Pinkvilla, Ameesha revealed how many in the industry were of the opinion that the film would not be able to match up to the other two big recent releases- Shah Rukh Khan’s Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Aamir Khan’s Mela. Ameesha said, “But everyone was against the launch because everyone had no faith in Hrithik (Roshan) because, at the same time, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan’s son Abhishek Bachchan was being launched, I was a non-filmy, he was being launched with Kareena so this was a very underdog project till of course Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai actually came to the screens. People asked Mr. Rakesh Roshan to change the release date because we had Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan’s films Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Mela before and after us.”
Rakesh Roshan had confidence
Ameesha further added how it was the director Rakesh Roshan who did not respond to these critical opinions and trusted his film from the beginning. She said, “People asked Rakesh, ‘How can you bring these two nobodies in between two hurricanes of films.’ And Rakesh uncle said, ‘I’m not going to change. I have faith in my film.’ That was enough for me and Hrithik that our director had faith in us. It was enough for me that such a big director like Rakesh Roshan was risking his career and his son’s career with a new girl like me. So that gave me the confidence that he (Rakesh Roshan) has faith in me, duniya ki maat suno, give your best to your film and that’s all. And, the rest is history.”
Kaho Na Pyaar Hai emerged to become an overnight success and won several awards. In the upcoming years, Hrithik went on to establish himself as one of the leading stars of his generation.
Meanwhile, Ameesha’s latest release Gadar 2 has become a massive hit at the box office. The Anil Sharma-led film, which released in the theatres on August 11, has so far collected ₹304.13 crore at the domestic box office.
