Yash Johar said ‘I have no money’ as he approached close friend for more funds, was turned down; Nikkhil Advani reveals K3G was over-budget by Rs 30 cr

“He took the paper on which we had written it, folded it, put it in his pocket and said, ‘Ok, go and make the film.’ It was a huge number back in 2000. On the first day of the shoot, we were filming Bole Chudiyan, with 200 dancers, 300 junior artistes and the entire star cast was there. We had taken Filmistan studio, which has ten floors, and all ten were taken by us. So Filmistan studio had become Dharma studios, where one floor was Yash Johar’s office, the other was HoD’s office, one was just eating room.

“We had painted the makeup rooms, we had re-done the bathroom, the plumbing, put MF Hussain prints, fridge, TV, cable, everything. There used to be a letter pad (which would read) ‘from the desk of Jaya Bachchan.’ There was one note from Karan every morning about what he felt that day! On the first day of the shoot, Karan fainted!”

The filmmaker then recalled how Yash Johar met him outside the sets one day and asked him if he remembered what Nikkhil had said the film’s budget would be.

“I said, ‘Yash ji there is too much stress now, I need to check a lot of things on set so I don’t know.’ Then he removes the same piece of paper, unfolds it, and says, ‘Art budget was Rs 3 cr for the entire film, you have spent Rs 3.6 cr on one set.’ He tore the paper and said, ‘Now go and make this film.’ The eventual budget of the film was Rs 54.5 cr!”

The battle to mount Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham wasn’t just in its cost of production but also spilled over to its release. Nikkhil recalled how a deal with a big studio didn’t materalise and a trusted close associate also didn’t step in to help release the film.

“The way the film was sold is a different story. I was so close to Yash ji, so that taught me how one thinks as a producer. We were about to sign with a very big studio, the deal fell through. He went to a person he was very close to and said, ‘I have no money. I have spent so much money and I need this.’ but that person said, ‘No, I can give you only this much’.

“So Yash ji self-distributed the film. It was distributed at 17 and a half percent refundable commission. Dharma Productions stands on the shoulders of three films– Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kal Ho Na Ho,” he added.