Refugee

Bipasha Basu was offered a role opposite Sunil Shetty. When she turned it down, the role was written out of the film.

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JP Dutta initially wanted Akshaye Khanna for Shadaab Khan's role, but decided against it because the part was too small.

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It was the first film for both Abhishek and Kareena.

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Abhishek Bachchan drew heavy criticism for being compared with his father, while Kareena won great praise for her role. Strangely, three years later the situation was reversed in MPKDH: Abhishek received praise while Kareena was criticised.

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Recalling the first scene he shot for JP Dutta's debut film Refugee, Abhishek said that around 2,000 to 3,000 people came to watch "Amitabh Bachchan's son" and that he was so nervous he had to do 17 retakes to get his first shot right. "That evening, on the way back to the hotel, I realised I had spent more energy that day on pressure, perception and thinking about what people would do. When that energy should actually have gone into doing my work, I can say this in front of my family. And that day I decided I would never think about it again," he added.

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When the film was released on 30 June 2000, Abhishek's biggest rival, Hrithik Roshan, was not in India; he was shooting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for Na Tum Jaano Na Hum. To watch the film, he and Esha Deol visited Raja Cinema on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, British Columbia. The theatre's upper balcony was closed for security and to protect the public's privacy.

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Bichhoo was to be released on 30 June alongside Refugee, but Guddu Dhanoa later objected to this.

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The film met with a huge response in the overseas market during its opening week.

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Aditya Pancholi was offered the film but turned it down because the schedules of his other projects clashed. Sudesh Berry eventually signed for the film.

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Shadaab Khan plays Abhishek Bachchan's brother in this film; their fathers, Amjad Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, worked together in several films, most famously Sholay (1975).

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Kareena was first offered a film with Hrithik Roshan, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), but she turned it down because she wanted her first film to be with Amitabh Bachchan's son.

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This film began after J. P. Dutta decided to shelve his film "Aakhri Mughal".

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Tabu was signed to play a doctor, but the role was ultimately cut from the film.

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During the scripting stage of Aakhri Mughal, J. P. Dutta wanted Dilip Kumar for the role of Abhishek's father. Amisha Patel, Rinke Khanna and Bipasha Basu were screen-tested for the lead role. Because Dutta could not complete the script, he shelved the film. The missing part of the script existed only in Kamal Amrohi's mind, and he had not written it down. Dutta was basing his film on a script Kamal Amrohi wrote in the 1970s. Dharmendra was to play the lead.

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The song "Mere Humsafar" was sampled from Roop Sundari's song "Main Hoon Tere Raagini".

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Vishwajeet Pradhan replaced Mohnish Behl.

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Before finalising Abhishek Bachchan, JP Dutta approached Salman Khan for the lead role, but Salman did not commit to the character and turned it down immediately, and Abhishek Bachchan was finally signed.

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Mukul Dev signed a contract for the film but later chose to withdraw. He was subsequently replaced by Arif Zakaria.

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Refugee marked Kareena Kapoor's debut.

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The song "Mere Humsafar" was sampled from "Main Tumhari Ragini Tum Geet Ho" from the film Roop Sundari. The song "So Gaye Hain Kho Gaye Hain" from Zubeidaa also carries traces of the original song.

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Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan visited the Chandan and Gaiety Galaxy theatres in Mumbai. When the audience realised they were in the theatre, they had to be locked in the projection room.

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Kumar Sanu had recorded all the songs, but J. P. Dutta and Amitabh later felt that Kumar Sanu's voice would be too mature for Abhishek's debut. They then had Sonu Nigam dub over Sanu's song.

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