Farah Khan says Kamal Haasan asked her to ‘duck off’ after she offered him role in this Shah Rukh Khan film

Farah Khan reminisced about approaching Kamal Haasan for a role opposite Shah Rukh Khan, visiting him in Chennai.

Filmmaker Farah Khan recently visited Shruti Haasan's Mumbai home for her cooking vlog, where the conversation turned into an amusing trip down memory lane. Farah revealed how she once approached Shruti’s father, and actor Kamal Haasan, to play a pivotal role in one of her films opposite Shah Rukh Khan, only to have him turn it down in his own inimitable style.

Farah Khan reveals Kamal Haasan turned down a film opposite Shah Rukh Khan.

When Kamal Haasan rejected the role in Main Hoon Na

Farah made her grand directorial debut with Shah Rukh Khan’s Main Hoon Na, which also featured Zayed Khan, Sushmita Sen, Amrita Rao and Suniel Shetty in key roles. In her recent vlog, the filmmaker revealed that she had first offered the role of the antagonist, Raghavan Dutta, to Kamal Haasan.

Farah told Shruti, "Kamal sir was my first choice for Main Hoon Na, but then Suniel Shetty played that role. I went to Chennai to his office and narrated him the script, and he politely asked me to duck off." However, she did not reveal the reason why the veteran actor turned down the project.

About Main Hoon Na

Released in 2004, Main Hoon Na was a commercial and critical success. Made on a budget of ₹25 crore, the film grossed ₹70.40 crore worldwide. The story follows Shah Rukh Khan as Major Ram Prasad Sharma, an Indian Army officer who goes undercover as a college student to protect a general’s daughter, Sanjana (Amrita Rao), while secretly searching for his estranged stepbrother, Lakshman (Zayed Khan). Along the way, he must foil a militant’s plot against the Indo-Pak peace initiative “Project Milaap,” navigate campus life, and mend family ties. Its catchy songs, such as Tumse Milke and Main Hoon Na, along with high-energy action sequences, contributed to its enduring popularity. Made in ₹25 crore, the film earned ₹70.40 crore worldwide.

Kamal Haasan's upcoming film

Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan was last seen in the Tamil film Thug Life, which reunited him with Mani Ratnam after 37 years. However, it failed to recreate the magic of their 1987 classic Nayakan, earning only ₹97.25 crore worldwide. He will next appear in S Shankar’s Indian 3, which is currently in production, with its release date yet to be announced.