I could have edited everything out. It could have just been Jaya ji saying bye and Preity sitting next to Shah Rukh.

But he has to say goodbye to everybody he befriended. Kal Ho Naa Ho is the story of all these people, and how this man comes into their lives and changes it. He waves at Sweetu. Lilette Dubey did a fabulous job, when she says, "Goodnight sweetheart." I loved it.

I had asked my editor, "How long is the death scene?" He said seven minutes. I said I would cut it to three-and-a-half. I went in thinking I would cut everything. I sat. I put the music on. And I decided to leave it just the way it was.

The high point for me in the entire scene was the crossing of the fingers. We used it earlier in jest. You never expect Saif to do it, but he does. I remember we were struggling with this scene. Karan just gave up and said, "I have done enough for you. You write the scene."

I wrote the scene with this fingers folded gesture. Karan said, "So stupid. Why is he lying to a dying man?" But later he understood it. They [Saif and Shah Rukh] performed wonderfully too.

In the picture: Jhanak Shukla, Jaya Bachchan and Athik Naik come to pay the dying Shah Rukh Khan one last visit at the hospital..

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