I remember watching the film as a student in a neighbourhood theatre way back in 2000. That was the time when we were just learning to write Y2K; people around the world celebrated the start of a new millennium, those were also the times when the human genome project was a part of the scientific discourse, when women were given 33 percent reservation in Parliament, Vladimir Putin was elected as President of Russia, the film 'Gladiator,' won the Academy Award for Best Picture, PlayStation 2 released in Japan and Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai released with a kind of fanfare that was never before seen in Hindi cinema.
The film's promotions and the launch of Hrithik Roshan as a bankable Bollywood star, were unlike anything that had been witnessed before and for that alone, the film merits a mention 25 years later. The film's trailers and TV promos were extensively shown on television, creating a huge buzz around the film's release and this was alongside a massive print media campaign with posters, hoardings, and advertisements in leading newspapers and magazines, interactive elements including web, online contests and fan engagement activities.
Although all of this might sound too obvious or even dated now, for that time it was unprecedented. The film's music was promoted aggressively, with audio releases, music videos, and live concerts and another strategy which was innovative for that time was the release of the behind-the-scenes making-of-the-film that was sold along with the film's music album.
I still remember the hype created around Hrithik's "manufactured stardom," with his father, Rakesh Roshan saying how inundated he and the family was to see thousands of love letters coming in every day.
Cross-promotion with Pepsi, further boosted the film's visibility. Suketu Mehta, an author, has written about Hrithik Roshan in his non-fiction book Maximum City saying Mehta wrote that Hrithik's debut film, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, was a love story that caused young women to faint when he appeared on screen. "Near riots are breaking out over Hrithik. A theatre owner from Raipur calls his father, frantic. He needs two hundred thousand pictures of Hrithik with his signature printed across them; a mob of women are besieging the theatre for them. When Hrithik visits the Taj Coffee shop another invasion of his female fans forces the staff to smuggle him out of the kitchen. In the suburbs, he is enjoying a quiet dinner at an Italian restaurant with his girlfriend when he is spotted. A crowd gathers and a passing double-decker empties out, as its passengers rush into get a good look at his face. …his film has experienced the fastest climb to the top in the history of Hindi cinema; 99% collection for the Bombay circuit in the first week."
Kaho Na… Pyaar Hai directed by Hrithik's father Rakesh Roshan, had the leading man essay the dual roles of Rohit Mehra, a musically talented orphan struggling to survive in Bombay and the affluent Raj Chopra, a singer and entertainer living in New Zealand. The two lookalikes and their diegetic location in the film positioned Hrithik as both a local and global
star within the Bollywood moment.
"The double role in Bombay cinema—a device that “doubles” the audience’s pleasure of viewing their favourite stars—has been the domain of well-established superstars. By casting Hrithik in a double role, the film positions the debutant as a superstar even before the film makes him one," says Sohini Ghosh, from jamia Millia university who writes about the actor in an academic paper, under the title, 'Action, Sensation and the Kinetic Body: The Stardom of Hrithik Roshan.' Out of the 135 films released in 2000, only Kaho Na...Pyaar Hai was a blockbuster hit.
With all the hype generated around the launch of Star Kids today, Hrithik's launch redefined "how it should be done." Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai's promotional campaign was a game-changer for Bollywood, setting a new benchmark for film promotions in India. Its innovative strategies and extensive reach helped create a massive buzz around the film, contributing to its huge success.