Twenty years ago, a star arrived in the film firmament to newfound hysteria with the release of Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (Jan 2000). It was the filmmaker’s son Hrithik who drew the whistles and applause. He made his debut in a double role, with both his avatars romancing  Ameesha Patel .

Reacting to 20 years of the film, Hrithik told media in an interview, “Really? 20 years already? Feels like I just started a few weeks ago. So yes, I still feel almost the same like it was on the first day as an actor.”

Hrithik has a big fan following in Fiji and Garam Masala readers may recall few interesting facts about this romantic blockbuster…
 Hrithik Roshan needed a great physique for his debut and Dabangg Salman Khan guided and trained him to get that bulky muscles.
 Hrithik Roshan wasn’t the first choice for the film. In fact, papa Rakesh Roshan wanted to cast superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the role of Rohit and Raj.
 Like Hrithik Roshan, even Ameesha was not the original choice for this romantic drama. Earlier the character of Sonia was to be played by  Kareena Kapoor Khan, who walked out of the film just a few days after the shooting had started.
 Actress Asha Patel, who played the character of Raj’s mother in the film, is Ameesha Patel’s real mom.
 Get over Prabhas receiving 6000 marriage proposals after Baahubali 2, the Greek God Hrithik Roshan got 30,000 marriage proposals post the release of his debut film.
 Beating biggies like Mohabbatein and Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai was the highest grosser of 2000.
 Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai won a staggering 102 awards during the year and was added in the Limca Book of Records for the greatest number of awards won by a Bollywood film.
 Remember the traffic signal scene, where Rohit meets Sonia for the first time? That’s exactly the same way that Hrithik had met his ex-wife Sussanne Khan.

 Film also provided a huge boost to Lucky Ali, thanks to chartbuster numbers Ek Pal Ka Jeena and Kyun Chalti Hai Pavan. Soon after release of the film, not only Hrithik but Ameesha Patel also became a sensation in Bollywood. Actress said that she was all engaged with her academics before her life transformed and she became an actress.

Ameesha said she was at a wedding when she incidentally bumped into Rakesh Roshan, who was in the planning stages of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.

“I wasn’t supposed to go for this party. My mother was unwell so I accompanied my father. My father and Rakesh Roshan were schoolmates. We were leaving when Rakesh Roshan was entering. He did not recognise me and asked my father, ‘Amit who is this pretty young girl with you?’ the report quoted Ameesha as saying.

Revealing further on how Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai was eventually signed, Ameesha said she was invited for lunch by the Roshans.

“After we got done, Rakesh Roshan offered me the film.I was on the set on the fourth day, I could not have started my career with any another film” she added.

When asked if she will be seen sharing screen space with Hrithik Roshan anytime soon, Ameesha said, “People really want that magic to happen again and I hope it is recreated in 2020.”