How Rakesh Roshan Mortgaged His Home And Survived Underworld Attack For Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai

Ace director Rakesh Roshan launched his son Hrithik Roshan with the film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. It was written, directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. Apart from Hrithik Roshan, the film starred Ameesha Patel, Anupam Kher, Dalip Tahil and Mohnish Bahl in the prominent roles. Hrithik’s debut performance and the soundtrack album of the film became an instant sensational blockbuster success. It became the second-highest-grossing Indian worldwide film of 2000. It was inducted into the Guinness World Record for being a feature film with the most awards. There are many such facts which are on the internet regarding this sensational blockbuster. One which garnered headlines the most was that Rakesh Roshan mortgaged his house and car to make Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Later, an attempt to kill him was made by the sharpshooters of the underworld after he allegedly refused to share the overseas profit with them.

Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’s budget was overshot by Rs 3 crore, a big amount in that era. Since Rakesh Roshan was hell-bent on producing the film, he took a huge risk. He mortgaged both their house and car to finance the film, as revealed by Hrithik Roshan in an interview with Karan Thapar in 2001. The film became a massive hit. The moment the underworld got a whiff of this Bollywood success story, they started demanding profit share from Rakesh Roshan.

Refused to agree with their demand, the filmmaker was shot at by two unidentified assailants near his office on Tilak Road at Santacruz West in Mumbai on January 21, 2000. Two bullets were aimed at him. One hit him on the left arm while the other grazed his chest. After falling, the filmmaker was quick on his feet to leap into his car. He asked his driver to take him to the Santacruz police station. With the security of the police, the filmmaker was admitted to the Nanavati Hospital, where Dr Sharad Pandey, father of Bollywood actor Chunky Panday, successfully operated on him for an hour to remove the bullet. The assailants were later identified as Sunil Vithal Gaikwad and Sachin Kamble. They both were on the payrolls of Ali Budesh, the Bahrain-based ganglord.