Kunal on Yash Chopra's reaction to 'Hum Tum's final cut

Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji-starrer '

Hum Tum

', directed by Kunal Kohli, had a re-release in theatres today ( May 16), and the filmmaker has now opened up about the early hurdles he faced while making the film back in 2004. He also spoke about the initial negative reception.About Hum Tum's initial reviewsSpeaking to Radio Nasha Official, Kunal reflected on how the film failed to impress critics initially, but later became one of the most beloved rom-coms in Bollywood. “Even if I pull out Hum Tum’s reviews today, we won’t find a single good one. Not even one person gave it a positive review. I was so scared. I didn’t even have the courage to call and ask people why they didn’t like it,” he recalled.Yash Chopra's budget

One of the key challenges was the tight budget allocated to him by legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra. Kohli revealed that the project was greenlit with a strict cap of Rs 7.5 crore. “Yash ji gave a deadline with the budget, saying that as soon as this amount is exhausted, I will release the film as is,” he said. He further added that Salaam Namaste, which followed Hum Tum, had a considerably higher budget, ranging from Rs 8 to Rs 19 crore.

They had allotted a Rs 2.5 crore budget for animation, but many advised against including it, as they felt it was unnecessary. “But then, we found a new animation studio that did it for Rs 50 lakhs. We switched from 3D to 2D, and kept the background static in a few scenes,” he explained.Yash Chopra's review of the final outputEverything changed when Yash Chopra viewed the final version. Kohli recounted a pivotal moment when the veteran filmmaker acknowledged his initial doubts and praised the film’s beauty. “Yash ji saw the final output in the editing room and asked me and Adi (Aditya Chopra) to come to his room. Adi said, ‘Now that you’ve made your film, get ready to be scolded by him.’ But Yash ji said, ‘You were all right, I was wrong — this is a beautiful film’,” he shared.The emotional impact of Chopra’s words stayed with Kohli. “I started crying. He got up and hugged me. He said he would proudly put my name on it. He had to mention that because he had this thought process — if he didn’t like the film, he wouldn’t put his name on it. He said, ‘I haven’t seen such a film ever. Whether it succeeds or not, it’s now in God’s hands,’” he added.Hum Tum also featured Rishi Kapoor, Kirron Kher, Rati Agnihotri, and Jimmy Sheirgill in key roles.