When Shah Rukh Khan revealed Karan Johar made a special edit of Kal Ho Naa Ho for his kids: ‘Never shown them the end’

Kal Ho Naa Ho is one of the most popular and memorable films of Shah Rukh Khan’s career. The 2003 film released at the height of the actor’s popularity and earned him both appreciation and awards for his portrayal of a terminally ill man with a heart of gold.

The death scene of Shah Rukh’s character Aman is one of the most talked-about from the film. However, in 2015, over a decade after the film’s release, Shah Rukh had revealed that he never showed that scene to his children Aryan and Suhana. In fact, film’s producer Karan Johar made a special edit of the film for Shah Rukh’s kids which avoided the death scene.

In September 2015, a Shah Rukh fan club tweeted a video of a little girl apparently traumatised by the death scene in the film. Tagging the actor in the tweet, the account wrote, “Have You Seen This @iamsrk A Must Watch ‘A Lil Girl’s Reaction After Watching Kal Ho Na Ho.” In his response, Shah Rukh revealed about Karan Johar’s special edit of the film for his children. “Never shown the ending of Kal Ho Naa Ho to my kids. Karan made a special edit where movie ends before I fly away,” he tweeted.

When the film released, Aryan was six and Suhana three years old and Shah Rukh apparently wanted to shield them from the scene and its depiction of death. The actor’s third child–son AbRam–was born in 2013. While Shah Rukh’s reason for not showing the scene to them was its nature, the film’s director recently revealed he hated the scene altogether.

Speaking to Hindustan Times last year, Kal Ho Naa Ho director Nikkhil Advani had said, “Shah Rukh absolutely hated the death scene of Kal Ho Naa Ho. He kept saying, ‘You’re too irreverent, not giving it any respect’,” he said.

Also read: SRK ‘absolutely hated’ his death scene in KHNH, said one in Devdas was better

Nikkhil said that Shah Rukh was also shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas at the same time and kept comparing his death in the two films. He added, “He was also shooting Devdas at the same time in which he had a spectacular death scene. He kept saying, ‘Usse kehte hain death scene (Now that’s a death scene). I explained to him that I was looking at death as a comma, not a full stop.”