Cousin sisters Kajol and Rani Mukerji didn’t hold back from opening up about their contentious equation in the past in Episode 6 of Koffee With Karan Season 8. The coming together of the two actresses also marked 25 years of show host Karan Johar’s blockbuster directorial debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. While Rani ruminated on her relationship with Kajol now and back then, Kajol, in her inimitable style, spiced up the rapid-fire round with her straight talk. Here are the highlights from the Kajol-Rani episode streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Kajol and Rani — love lost and love gained

Kajol and Rani settled down on the KWK couch and chorused, ‘We are girls, and we shall remain girls’, promising a candid glimpse into what transpired between them during the making of the 1998 film.

When Karan brought up issues that the duo had during the shoot of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kajol justified it as an ‘organic distance’ as far as work was concerned and that both preferred it that way. On the contrary, Rani shared that it did appear ‘strange’ to her as she had known ‘Kajol didi’ ever since she was a kid. Rani added that she later understood people ‘grow apart’ when they ‘grow up’. ‘What do I say about it now,’ smiled Kajol, without trying to justify her stand any further.

The cousin sisters said they grew closer when their respective dads (who were brothers) passed away. ‘There’s a difference between when you are 17, and when you are 40 when you learn to not bother about the little things,’ said Rani, who had also discussed the impasse between her and Kajol with Kajol’s younger sister Tanishaa and neither could come up with a good reason for it. But both Rani and Kajol felt that people in the industry took advantage of the situation and blew it up.

Karan broached the topic of his rough patch with Kajol but she cut him short by saying she didn’t want to dwell on it.

Throwback moments from the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai set

Karan recalled Kajol, who was already a top star, asking him to scream at her on the set of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai so that everyone would take the 24-year-old debutant director seriously.

Rani remembered Karan as an ‘extremely gracious and kind’ person who was ‘fair’ to her, which instilled a lot of confidence in her at the start of her career. He handled the set well while also being ‘loving and giving’ towards everyone, she added.

Karan reminisced how his late father Yash Johar would complain to Rani’s mother about him splurging on his first film. And another incident about when his father told Sanjay Dutt — after bumping into him outside the sets of Mahmood Studio — that he was on the street because of the expensive set his son had put up, while he had actually stepped out to make a call.

On husbands and children

Quizzed about her actor-director-producer husband Ajay Devgn’s ‘low-key’ nature, Kajol replied that she represented the family at parties and awards shows, being ‘the better-looking half’. Rani said she admired husband Aditya Chopra’s habit of not being seen everywhere. ‘I wouldn’t have married him if he was everywhere,’ she added.

When Karan asked where Aditya had disappeared after the exit gate at the airport while returning from a trip, Rani replied that since he stays simple, the paparazzi missed him in the crowd.

About getting back on the set after her children have grown up, Kajol observed: ‘One is an adult (Nysa) and one is a teenager (Yug). They have a life of their own and they are pretty much doing their own thing.’ Rani said she doesn’t want her daughter Adira to be photographed as she doesn’t want her to get extra attention and feel privileged.

Game zone

Asked to identify the names of some Hindi films, the actress duo made loads of misfires and rolled with laughter. Struggling to remember the name of the dog in Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!, Rani said it was ‘Fluffy’ while Kajol thought it was ‘Bunty’.

In the rapid-fire round, Kajol brought on her fiery side and got things back on track. She admitted to being the best actress in the romance genre in the last three decades. And when asked about the next-generation of romantic pairs, her expression and eye roll said it all.

Kajol put out a disclaimer about herself — ‘Believe me even when I am joking because I am telling you the truth’ – and dissed the dialogue from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai that love and marriage happen only once in life, urging people not to believe in it. She also admitted saying no to Three Idiots, Mohra and Dil Toh Pagal Hai.

Rani picked Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black as her standout film, and shared that she couldn’t do Lagaan as the director of a certain film she had signed on had put her dates on hold.