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Draped in a beautiful red chiffon saree, Sushmita Sen walks across the college campus as Shah Rukh Khan opens his arms in awe of his leading lady. This iconic scene from Farah Khan’s 2004 movie Main Hoon Na not only altered our perception of teachers but also redefined Sushmita’s career trajectory. In a recent interview, Sushmita revealed that while her role in the film was shortened in the final edit, it garnered her lot of acclaim, including praise from the late filmmaker Yash Chopra.
During the interview with Humans Of Bombay, Sushmita shared how Shah Rukh improvised her iconic introduction shot in the film where he opens his arms upon seeing her approach. The actor also disclosed that she was shivering and stammering during the scene due to her attire – chiffon saree – while Shah Rukh wore warm sweaters.
Sushmita Sen said, “A lot of stuff that you see in the film was not written. The way Shah Rukh opens his arms on seeing me for the first time, that was not written. He just did it as a gesture to, ‘Dude, what you are looking like.’ This was not choreographed. It just happened in that moment. Also, him holding the saree pallu and walking was not planned either.”
She added, “We shot at a very beautiful place. He gets to wear the jackets and the sweater and I get to wear chiffon sarees, freezing and then Farah Khan wants a fan, a blower fan. It was so cold that I was worried that you would see goosebumps on screen. I was actually stammering through the dialogues.”
After the film’s final edit, Sushmita revealed that she got a call from Farah Khan who apologised to her after her role in the movie was cut short in the final edit. She revealed, “Farah called me and said, ‘Sush, I have seen the final edit and I have to apologise to you, Shah Rukh of course has the role, Zayed, Amrita, everybody has a role, you are barely there. I am just like, ‘That’s ok Farah, you kept through the deal, I kept through. Don’t worry about it.’ But inside I was like, ‘Oh oh, I am barely there in the film.'”
Despite her limited screen time, Sushmita managed to win hearts in Main Hoon Na. Expressing the same, she said, “The screening happens at Film City and my phone starts ringing. The whole industry is calling. I hesitantly pick up the phone and Yash ji was like, ‘Kya kaam kiya hai bachche, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. It’s just the interval and I hope you are there in every frame of the second half.’ I missed out on that. From that response, I knew something has changed. I didn’t go for the screening because I was feeling bad about being barely there. The role was still as small as it was but it was powerful enough and the reaction of the audience was so intense.”
The true power of the audience became apparent to the actor when old posters of Main Hoon Na, excluding Sushmita, were replaced with new ones prominently featuring her. “The first posters of Main Hoon Na either had Shah Rukh, Zayed and Amrita or Shah Rukh alone. By Saturday, after the film had released, there was Shah Rukh and I on every hoarding. Farah called me and said, ‘We have pulled down all the old posters and have put the new ones. You better go for a drive today.’ That is the power of people and the audience,” she said
Main Hoon Na was Farah Khan’s directorial debut. The film starred Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Sunil Shetty, Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan in lead roles. The film garnered glowing reviews and emerged as a massive box office success.
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