- Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is being adapted into a web series
- The 2006 film explored themes of infidelity and complicated relationships
- The film initially received polarised responses due to its controversial subject
Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, and Abhishek Bachchan's 2006 film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, many said, was ahead of its time. Made under the direction of Karan Johar, the romantic drama explored themes of infidelity and complicated relationships. Now, nearly two decades after it first hit theatres, the filmmaker-producer plans to adapt the multi-starrer into a web series.
Speaking with The Week, the filmmaker said, “We are actually. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. We're adapting it into a long-form series. It will be out soon. The root of that film, it was, of course, released in 2006 to very polarised responses. I had many people come up to me and ask me whether I was unwell after that film, because they said, ‘How can you endorse infidelity?' And I was like, ‘How can you endorse something that's already so sold out'?”
Though Karan did not disclose the platform or additional details, he revealed that the series was already in the works and will be released soon.
Sharing an anecdote from an early screening, the filmmaker shared how a traditional couple walked out after realising a pivotal scene was not a dream sequence, noting that audiences tend to resist confronting realities that mirror their own lives, even if such situations exist off-screen.
“I still remember when I was watching the film with an audience a day prior to its release. There was a very traditional couple watching the film, and there's a moment where Shah Rukh and Rani check into a hotel room. The lady, who had come with her husband, turned dramatically to him, and he very calmly said, ‘It's a dream sequence.' After five minutes, they realised it was not a dream sequence, and then they got up and left,” he recalled.
Karan went on to say, “And then I realised that we are in such a polarised audience space, that people judge what happens in their homes, they forget it, they brush it under the carpet, but they don't want to watch it on celluloid, even though it's probably a reality in their own home.”
About Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
The film followed Dev (played by SRK) and Maya (Rani), two individuals trapped in unhappy marriages. They meet by chance and form a bond that evolves into an extramarital affair.
When their relationship is exposed, both marriages fall apart. Dev and Maya go their separate ways but reunite and choose to be together years later.
