Did you know Waheeda Rehman shot for Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham as Amitabh Bachchan’s mother? Here’s why she opted out of the film

Waheeda Rehman started shooting for Karan Johar's 2001 film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham but had to opt out.

New Delhi | February 24, 2023 04:33 PM IST

2 min read

Waheeda Rehman in a deleted scene from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

When Karan Johar made his 2001 film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, the film’s impressive cast was one of the big talking points of its promotions. The film starred Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan but when they started shooting, Waheeda Rehman was also a part of the film. In a recent interaction with Arbaaz Khan, Waheeda Rehman briefly mentioned that her return to films after a 10-year-break was Karan’s film and she was quite impressed by the atmosphere of the set.

Waheeda Rehman was roped in to play the role of Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in the film and had even started shooting for it. She shot for the title song ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ with Jaya Bachchan but shortly after that, she had to bow out.

A YouTube video on Dharma Productions’ channel has Karan sharing that he approached Waheeda with his father, Yash Johar. “I said I have a role of a Daadi, of Amit ji’s mother in the film. And I needed extremely royal casting. So I said, ‘will you please do it?’ Without asking me any questions, she agreed. And we started the film, we started shooting with her. It was the aarti song ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’,” he recalled.

Karan then said, “And then something unfortunate happened , something that was beyond her control and she had to opt out.” It has been said that Waheeda opted out of the film as it was during this time that her husband Kamaljeet passed away. Waheeda and Kamajeet got married in 1974 and were first introduced to each other by Karan’s father Yash Johar.

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Waheeda’s role was eventually played by Achala Sachdev.

Waheeda Rehman has played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother and his romantic interest on screen. She played his mother in Trishul, and his wife in Kabhi Kabhie.

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