Beautiful, heartfelt and universal tributes stream in as Karan Johar remembers the film that is closest to his heart

Filmmaker Karan Johar has paid tribute, for understandably emotional reasons, to his 2003 film Kal Ho Naa Ho, which is now all of 15 years old.

The Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan-starrer had released on November 27, 2003, going on to become a super hit for a number of reasons, especially the comedic chemistry between its leading stars, its portrayal of the lives and times of Indian diaspora in the US, and also, its core subject matter -- love and loss.

In the film (spoiler alert), Shah Rukh Khan precipitates a love/friendship triangle with Zinta and Saif, though he has a tragic secret that he has been withholding from just about everyone. When the film had come out, it was also noted for its thematic similarity with another evergreen classic -- Anand, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna. The film also packed in elements that were quintessential to the kind of films Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan had come to be known for by that time -- catchy music as well as family-friendly fun. 

For Karan Johar and Bollywood in general, however, it was also significant because he produced it together with his late father and noted filmmaker Yash Johar. It was the last film Yash Johar produced before he passed away on June 26, 2004.

The video posted by Karan Johar about the film on Instagram captures many of the key aspects of Kal Ho Naa Ho spoken about above. He writes:

"This film will always remain the closest to my heart....#15yearsofkalhonaho"

Karan Johar's fans have sent in appreciative comments, such as:

• daydreamer_e021 This movie means so much to me. Thank you so much @karanjohar You turned my world upside down with this work, it was one of the first Bollywood movies I had seen and it made my life so much better. You are truly inspiring and who knows, maybe it was you and @iamsrk who made me find my true passion in film/directing. I will never forget this and the fact how much your work has affected me. ❤️
• isha.snehal There are very few movies that last like this!! Love the whole team ❣️
• itsrashmita This movie, this song, this actor everything about it is special always! ❤❤
• talkingnights So true, what a film. The song so deep rooted as it is playing melody which heart wants to listen from soulful ears. Amazing acting and beautiful plots of movie. These kind of movies just happens “dil se” as it was meant to be.
• sidharthamallik No one can ever get over this song.. the feeling.. it will always take out the emotions of the now a days puppets or human!
• amirtha117 I am from Tamilnadu, no movie made me cry like the way KHNH did.