Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani started his directorial career with the 2003 classic Kal Ho Naa Ho under Dharma Productions banner. Recently he appeared on Cyrus Broacha's podcast where he opened up about the time when Shah Rukh Khan vouched for him and agreed to work with Dharma Productions only if he would direct the next film. Owing his career to Shah Rukh Khan, Nikkhil also shared how the actor agreed to do Kal Ho Naa Ho without even going through the entire script.
"Shah Rukh went to Yash Johar and said, 'I will do another film with Dharma Productions only if Nikkhil directs it,'" the filmmaker recalled. Nikkhil was an assistant director to Karan Johar on his films Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and to Aditya Chopra on Mohabbatein. In the same podcast, he also shared how Shah Rukh and he had several conversations around movies and how the actor always wanted to do something different.
"I owe Shah Rukh a lot - I owe him my entire career as a director," Nikkhil professed on the show. Kal Ho Naa Ho was written by Karan Johar. When Shah Rukh first got the script, he "read the first page, glanced over the interval point, and then skipped to the last page. He didn't read the entire script. He simply said, 'I know Karan has written it, and you're directing it, so I'm in good hands," the filmmaker stated.
In Kal Ho Naa Ho, Shah Rukh played Aman, a terminally ill man in love with a troubled woman Naina, played by Preity Zinta. He becomes an angel for Naina and her family and solves all their troubles, and even helps her find love in her best friend Rohit, played by Saif Ali Khan.