Kabir Khan was asked to cast Arjun Rampal in Kabul Express to make it profitable before release; filmmaker nearly hung up on Aditya Chopra’s offer, thinking it was MTV Bakra planning a PRANK with Cyrus Broacha!

By Fenil Seta -

May 5, 2025 - 11:00 AM IST

In the fifth episode of The Filmy Hustle, hosted by distributor-exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, Kabir Khan opened up on his journey and what went behind the making of his memorable films. The talk began with how he managed to make Kabul Express, that too with Yash Raj Films (YRF), which until then were known for romantic dramas.

Kabir Khan was asked to cast Arjun Rampal in Kabul Express to make it profitable before release; filmmaker nearly hung up on Aditya Chopra’s offer, thinking it was MTV Bakra planning a PRANK with Cyrus Broacha!

Kabir Khan said, “The year was 2004. A lot of corporate companies had come in and claimed that they would make different kinds of cinema. Though everybody liked the story of Kabul Express, they all asked me, ‘Banayenge kaise?’. Meanwhile, John Abraham and Arshad Warsi were on. Even Naseeruddin Shah had given his nod. It was a very small-budget film. We had planned to make it in Rs. 2 crores. With YRF coming in, the budget increased to Rs. 3 crores.”

Kabir raised laughs as he narrated, “I met a producer, who was the self-styled champion of new-age cinema. He asked me for my proposal. I said, ‘I propose to make a film’ (laughs)! He replied, ‘Aap baat nahin samjhe. What is the budget of your film? What is your recovery plan in the 14 distribution territories?’. I wondered, ‘How am I supposed to know all this’. I offered to narrate the script. He declined citing, ‘We hear proposals from Monday to Friday while we hear scripts only on Saturday’!”

Kabir Khan continued, “I met him again, on Saturday, and from the body language, I knew that he had liked the story. He told me, ‘There are 2 types of films – pre-Friday and post-Friday’. I asked for their meaning. He told me, ‘Pre-Friday is when we have sold all the rights before release, leading to recovery. Whatever the film then earns is profit. Post-Friday films are the ones that have to gather steam on the strength of their merit, leading to recovery. Your film comes in the second category’. I said, ‘Toh hum post-Friday bana dete hai’. He replied, ‘As per our company policy, we only make pre-Friday films’!”

Kabir added, “He then suggested, ‘Your film can become a pre-Friday one if you get Arjun Rampal on board’! I tried but forget Arjun Rampal, I didn’t even get his manager’s number.”

Kabir Khan revealed, “While all this was happening, unknown to me, my script reached Aditya Chopra. Out of the blue, I got a call from YRF informing me that Aditya Chopra wanted to meet me. I didn’t believe her. Firstly, there was a myth that Aditya Chopra didn’t exist! Secondly, my wife (Mini Mathur) was an MTV VJ. Those days, the channel used to run a popular show, ‘MTV Bakra’. I thought the MTV people were trying to (prank me). Hence, I became very cocky on the phone. But the tone of the lady made me realize that maamla serious hai.”

He further said, “I went to the YRF office, half-expecting that Cyrus Broacha would suddenly come in front of me and (announce that it was a prank). However, when I told at the reception that I had an appointment with Aditya Chopra, I was taken inside his room. I’ll never forget that moment. Adi was cleaning his glasses with his shirt end. He told me, ‘I read your script and it moves well. When can we make it?’!”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Kabir Khan on receiving death threats from Taliban during Kabul Express shoot in Afghanistan – “That was scary, to be honest”