Archana and Anupam’s chemistry was appreciated by the audience.
Archana Puran Singh also recalled what it was like to work with Anupam Kher for the iconic Karan Johar film.
Karan Johar’s iconic film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai marked 25 years since its release recently. With this, Karan Johar also clocked 25 years in Bollywood. To commemorate this special day, the director held screenings of the film on Sunday night. While fans gathered to relive the iconic film, no one was prepared to watch the film’s cast take centre stage. Fans got emotional as they watched their favourite characters reunite. However, Archana Puran Singh’s absence was also felt by the audience.
In the popular romantic film, Archana Puran Singh played the iconic character of Ms. Briganza, the English literature professor in the college who taught Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In the film, Anupam Kher’s character, Mr. Malhotra, pines over her while she continues to pay no heed to his hints.
Speaking to the Hindustan Times, the actress recalled working with Anupam Kher for the iconic film. She said, “Anupam used to take my son by the finger and go for a walk in the garden. Location shoots are really intimate, and we all felt really sad when the schedule was over.”
Archana also spoke about a deleted scene from the film, “In one of the deleted scenes, Karan said that years later, Ms. Briganza and Malhotra would also get off the train with greyed hair, and the background score would say ‘Waqt ne kia kya hasi sitam.’ Unfortunately, that scene had to be deleted, but I have no regrets, I love each and every part that remained.”
She added, “The kind of improvisations that Karan allowed me and Anupam made everything better. We created comedy with each other. Anupam and I both being comic actors predominantly, we created whatever we could after the scenes that Karan wanted. He knew exactly what we wanted, yet he gave us the freedom to experiment.”
Talking about her character, Archana said, “When Karan narrated the film to me, I cried and laughed while listening to the script… Miss Briganza’s skirt length, buttons on the blazer and hair, every detailed decision was taken carefully. I was doing my own makeup for the film as I wasn’t given that budget.”
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was released on October 16, 1998. The film marked Karan Johar’s directorial debut and was a blockbuster. The performances and the songs received much love at the time of release and continue to be loved by fans today.
