Nikkhil Advani is the face behind one of the most loved Shah Rukh Khan films of all time Kal Ho Na Ho. The film that was released in 2003 was not only a massive hit but also found its place in the pop-culture years later. It still remains to be a relevant film for all generations. Interestingly, the same was backed by Karan Johar and his production house Dharma. However, post that film’s release, Nikkhil Advani parted ways after a public fallout with Karan Johar. Now the director recalls that he had no work for three years.
While talking to the Indian Express, Nikkhil Advani shared, “Post Kal Ho Naa Ho, I didn’t have work for three years. Nobody wanted to work with me. I left Dharma Productions and it was a very public fallout. And I didn’t have work for three years and when I finally started working again post D-Day, I just wanted to do anything and everything, never be in that position again.”
Meanwhile, in a different interest with Time Of India in 2013, the D-Day director had revealed,
“We both had egos that time in 2004. After I directed Kal Ho Naa Ho, the relation between assistant director and director became that of two directors who both made superhit films. We have never sat down and asked each other what went wrong, but when Yash uncle passed away, we started talking to each other again."
Kal Ho Naa Ho got 11 Filmfare nominations and won 8. This Dharma Productions movie, too, had gorgeous backdrops. Directed by Nikhil Advani, written by Karan, this rom-com was set in New York and had an ensemble cast consisting of Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Lillete Dubey, Reema Lagoo. Nikkhil Advani later went on to make films like D-Day with Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Shruti Haasan and Arjun Rampal.