Ameesha Patel says she gave up a high-paying job at Morgan Stanley for Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai: ‘Hrithik Roshan, Rakesh Roshan did a thumbs up…’

After the impromptu meeting, Ameesha was invited for lunch to Rakesh Roshan’s house the next day. She recalled being reluctant about the lunch invite. “‘Oh my god, not gonna go all the way from Marine Drive to Juhu.’ I didn’t want to go. I was also not aware that he was actually inviting me for lunch to offer me my first movie Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai”, recalled the actress.

She said, “Like any teenager, I went with a white t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, no makeup, hair in a ponytail and sulking that I had to make this whole journey. I reached his home and entered the bar room. Hrithik was sitting there. We had been friends when we were kids. We had pretty much similar social circle. I looked at him and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, you have become a hell of a handsome guy’. And then I said, ‘Forget all that, where is the washroom?’ That was my first sentence to him. And he just looked at me and said, ‘This girl is cracked.’ I went to use the washroom. ”

“In my absence, while I was in the washroom, I don’t know what happened. But, Hrithik and Rakesh uncle told me later that after Rakesh uncle returned from the wedding, he didn’t sleep all night. He said, ‘I found our Soniya for the film.’ And Hrithik was waiting to see me. And they exchanged a thumbs up, when I was in the washroom. They still hadn’t told me at that point what I was there for.”

Ameesha, who had no clue about the intention behind the lunch, wanted to head back to her house. “I thought it was just a social lunch. We had our lunch. There was Rakesh uncle, his wife, Pinky aunty, and Hrithik. After lunch, I said, ‘I better head back, I had a long trip. And Rakesh uncle told me, ‘No Ameesha, wait, can you tell me one thing? What is your plan for future?’ I said, honestly, I am at the crossroads, I don’t know whether I want to go back to Boston and study further or take up the job offer I had received from Morgan Stanley, who were quite impressed with my CV. They needed someone well-exposed and educated to represent them. It was a fabulous position. I was quite confused at that point in my life, which I expressed to Rakesh uncle. But, none matched what he had in store for me.”

The actress recalled how Rakesh Roshan had a contract ready for her. She revealed, “He said, ‘But, what about films? And I am like, ‘What about it?’ He said, ‘Have you considered acting?’ I said, ‘I do a skit or two in school and university. I have won awards in dramatics for best director, and best actor. I am a Bharatnatyam trained dancer. But, if you are asking me about Bollywood, I have no such intentions.’ ”

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“He then took out a contract. He said, ‘I am offering you a film, would you like to do it?’ I was like, ‘What film?’ He said, ‘I want to launch you with my son.’ And I said, ‘Really? But, I don’t know anything about acting.’ He was like, ‘Really?’ And I thought about it for like five minutes and said, ‘Okay, let me just do it'”, added Ameesha.

Sharing her reasons for quickly agreeing to doing the film, Ameesha shared, “I was like, ‘What worse can happen? The film will fail, and I will go back to doing what I was doing–my education, and job. Before this, I had other offers too. Vinod Khanna uncle had offered me Himalaya Putra with Akshaye. Feroz Khan uncle had offered me Prem Aggan with Fardeen. But, all these films were being filmed when I was in the university. So, I kept declining these offers. Films wasn’t on my radar. But, Kaho Na… Pyaar Hai was maybe meant to be.”

She added, “I sat down, I had no clue about the film. I thought maybe we will start in six months so that by then I can prep for it. He said, ‘No, Ameesha, we start in three days.’ I got the biggest shock. I had no clue how to face the camera. Rakesh uncle would say, ‘Right’, and I would go left because the camera angles are opposite. But I just went with the flow. The film released and became a major hit. That evening, Hrithik and I became the heartthrobs of the nation. It was all just meant to be.”