Directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan, the film Koi Mil Gaya released 20 years ago today. It gave us Hrithik Roshan (as Rohit Mehra), Preity Zinta (as Nisha Saluja) and Rekha (as Sonia Mehra) in leading roles. Rohit and Nisha were shown as love interests to each other, and to be quite honest their equation is something that I still find myself thinking about.
Though Nisha made her set of mistakes while first interacting with Rohit, it was sweet to see how the two developed a friendship. With time, we saw that Nisha started standing up for Rohit when he was being bullied. She also learnt how to put her biases aside, spend time with him, and get to know him better.
For a Bollywood movie that was addressing disabilities and neurodivergence in 2003, it did alright. Especially by showing Nisha and Rohit’s friendship (that turned into love, later).
Koi Mil Gaya gave us a pretty endearing, platonic relationship between these two. Nisha learnt how to respect Rohit even though she didn’t necessarily relate to him or even desire him romantically long before they entered a romantic relationship. Sometimes, that can result in a significant difference; Having basic respect for people who are different to us, treating each other with kindness and compassion, regardless of what the world might say about the friendship.
I mean, we saw these two accept and embrace each other in different ways. Rohit was already an open minded person (owing to his childlike wonder), he was healthily curious about Nisha, and accepted her. Nisha on the other hand, embraced Rohit’s friend circle, his family and his interests with an increasing sense of vulnerability!
Nisha and Rohit bonded over Bournvita, went on walks through the forest together, played on computers together, and spent time together in the most platonic ways possible. Their friendship included a lot of play, a lot of getting to know each other by being playful! It was so, so sweet to see.
So, maybe we needed Nisha and Rohit to start talking about inclusivity more? Maybe, they contributed to the larger conversation? Sure, the way the film depicted disability was not perfect, Rohit’s school system, Nisha’s friends (and even Nisha, initially) treated him inconsiderately. But, Koi Mil Gaya may have been a necessary film in the long run to start addressing disabilities.