Shah Rukh Khan was ‘whisked away at gunpoint’ from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa set; SRK cried after film ran into financial trouble: 31 years of KHKN

According to a Delhi Times report, when Shah Rukh attended the mahurat of Deewana (1992), Kundan asked him to sign the paperwork for Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. However, since Kundan did not have the legal contract with him at the time, Shah Rukh signed a blank sheet of paper to demonstrate his commitment to the film. The report stated, “Shah Rukh Khan pulled out a blank paper, kneeled on the floor, and put his signature at the bottom right corner. Kundan Shah then gave him Rs. 5,000 as the signing amount.”

In a separate interview with Radio Nasha, choreographer Farah Khan revealed that Shah Rukh was paid only Rs 25,000 for his role in the film, while she ended up earning more. She said, “The film was made on a shoestring budget. Shah Rukh Khan was paid only Rs 25,000 for his role. Interestingly, I was the highest-paid person on the set—I received Rs 5,000 per song, and there were six songs in the film, so I ended up making Rs 30,000.”

Anupama Chopra, in her book King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, recounted how the film ran into trouble with only five days of shooting left. She revealed that the production house, Kamalistan Studio, ran out of stock, and producer Vikram Mehrotra refused to purchase more film reels due to financial constraints. Determined to salvage the situation, Shah Rukh ran to every unit within the studio, asking for spare film reels. However, since it was past midnight and most productions had wrapped up, he was unsuccessful. Eventually, feeling helpless, Shah Rukh sat down and broke into tears. “When he couldn’t find any (film stock), Shah Rukh Khan sat down and cried,” Anupama wrote.

Financial constraints were not the only hurdles faced during production. The absence of a legal contract caused further issues when Shah Rukh was forcibly taken from the film’s set at gunpoint. In an earlier interview, Kundan Shah recalled the bizarre incident, saying, “Because of SRK’s date issues, he was once whisked away at gunpoint from the sets of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa to that of Deewana. It was quite funny.”

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa also starred Deepak Tijori, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, and Naseeruddin Shah. Years after starring in the film, Shah Rukh expressed his deep emotional connection to it. In an old interview on STAR Gold, he said, “According to me, I have been working for 16 to 17 years but this is one movie that will remain very close to my heart. At that time I was not a producer. But there is one wish that will remain unfulfilled that I wish I had made this movie.”