20 years of Bollywood's ‘Mohabbatein’: A look back at the Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai romance

As Aditya Chopra’s blockbuster romantic film ‘Mohabbatein,’ completed 20 years of its release on Tuesday, choreographer Farah Khan opened up about how she creatively captured the essence of Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s love story in the film.

‘Mohabbatein’ marked the first on-screen romantic association of Shah Rukh and Aishwarya after they portrayed the role of siblings in ‘Josh.’ Talking about the pair, Farah revealed that the fact that Aishwarya was a figment of Shah Rukh’s imagination was kept a well-guarded secret.

“We were not supposed to know, at that point, whether Aishwarya was Shah Rukh’s imagination or not. He would see her in places and she was the spirit behind the love stories. We shot in London. We shot in freezing cold nights with rain and we went to Switzerland to shoot two songs, ‘Humko Humise Chura Lo’, which I think is one of the best songs in the film, really beautifully done,” she said.

The 55-year-old choreographer turned filmmaker, went on to talk about how Shah Rukh was a pro to pick up her choreography with the utmost ease. “With Shah Rukh I had done tonnes of movies by then. So, all these kids [Uday Chopra, Shamita Shetty, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma and Jugal Hansraj] would do two to three months of rehearsals. And then, Shah Rukh would come and he would learn it in like five minutes because he never comes for rehearsals and he would just learn the steps in five minutes, and that was the amazing part of it,” she said.

Talking about working with Aishwarya, Khan said the former Miss World would never complain even while shooting in white lace saris in the freezing temperatures of London. “Ash being a thorough professional, freezing in London, wearing a white lace saree, drenched, and she would not complain. Her and Shah Rukh’s chemistry is something else in the film and that whole poetry of ‘Ek Ladki Thi Deewani Si’ I think that has become almost iconic because of how they did it,” Farah said.

Amitabh Bachchan, 78, shared a Twitter post in which he expressed happiness to have been a part of the film. “The music of this film is a treasure... The lyrics, the composition, each song is exceptionally made .. Happy to have been a part of this film,” the ‘Sholay’ actor wrote.

Earlier in the day, he penned a note to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the movie. “Parampara, Pratishtha, Anushasan .. Mohabbatein is special for many reasons. 20 years of this beautiful love story, a roller coaster of emotions. Eternally grateful for all the love you continue to shower,” he tweeted.