The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with high praise for its setting, direction, screenplay, soundtrack, cinematography, cast performances and overall presentation.

Anjali Sharma, now a traditional feminine woman, is engaged to Aman, but leaves for a month before her wedding, to conduct a dance workshop in Shimla.

Rahul realizes he is falling in love with Anjali this time but does not reveal it after he finds out she is engaged.

After the experience of assisting and acting in Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the musical romantic drama Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Karan Johar was encouraged to try his own hand at directing.

[6] Johar first wrote a story, which was a love triangle between a tomboy, a very pretty girl, and a slightly insensitive boy, but he shelved the idea because he was not very satisfied with it.

[7] As he states in his 2017 autobiographical book An Unsuitable Boy, Johar wanted Khan to have a role he never did before, thus decided to go for that of a father, getting inspiration from the 1995 British romantic comedy Jack and Sarah, about a man who loses his wife whe she delivers a baby that he initially doesn't want but then builds a bond with the child, before falling in love with another woman.

[8] Karan Johar was certain from the beginning that he wanted to cast Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles, having observed them during the making of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

[10] Other actresses such as Urmila Matondkar, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon and Karisma Kapoor were offered the role but also turned it down.

[10] Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan noticed Rani Mukherji's acting in Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat (1996), and suggested her to Karan Johar.

[13] In addition to the designer fashions, Johar also created a somewhat fantastical world where the students speak Hinglish and enjoy a pristine college campus, where there is no crime or hate, and traditional Hindu values are pervasive.

"[15] He hired Sharmishta Roy as art director, and told her to produce something similar to Riverdale High School of the Archie Comics, with some 90210 influence as well.

"[16] Johar also hired Farah Khan to do the choreography, Jatin–Lalit to provide the music, Santosh Thundiyil as cinematographer, and Nikhil Advani as his associate director.

The crew was young and inexperienced to the point where Shah Rukh Khan had to explain basic technicalities of filming.

Khan later said, "Karan makes no bones of the fact that his technical knowledge of filmmaking was not at its peak when he made the biggest hit of the decade.

[19] in several picturesque locations in Scotland,[20] including Eilean Donan, Glen Coe, Loch Lomond and Tantallon Castle with the nearby Bass Rock as a backdrop in one scene.

[21][22] The scenes from the summer camp in Shimla were filmed at Wenlock Downs in Ooty, Tamil Nadu.

[23] During the bicycle sequence in the song "Yeh Ladka Hai Deewana", Kajol lost control of her bike, fell flat on her face, and was knocked unconscious while also injuring her knee.

[24] During preparation for the reunion scene where the two leads met after more than 8 years apart, the director told them to improvise and rehearse the reactions that they might use, but he secretly taped them and was so happy with the result that it was put into the film.

[26] While the film was still untitled, Javed Akhtar was signed to write the lyrics, and even wrote and recorded one song (Koi Mil Gaya).

She especially liked the performance of Kajol, and thought that the film would appeal to young and romantic viewers primarily for its "MTV ambience" and "Valentine's Day flavours".

"[34] In contrast to these views, the reaction of Sujata C J, writing for Rediff.com, was that the film was very disappointing, with many cliches and a bad storyline, though Santosh Thundiyil and Sharmishta Roy were praised for their camerawork and art direction, respectively.

[35] Nandita Chowdhury in a review for India Today, said that Karan Johar was almost able to rekindle the Khan-Kajol magic of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and that overall the film was "a good distraction".

IndieWire writers Kate Erbland and Alison Foreman called Kuch Kuch Hota Hai "a love triangle for the ages" and said it is "a bittersweet and bubbly story of young love, missed opportunity, and female friendship" with "what’s quite possibly the most romantic gazebo scene of all time.

[42] It became the second Bollywood film to break into the UK box office top 10 after Dil Se.. which was released the same year, and went on to gross $2 million.

Subhash K Jha called the film "a simple stylish, sensuous and ambrosial love story," further adding that the chemistry between the lead pair was unbeatable.

[61] The film has also been criticized for creating unreal worlds and characters,[14] to which Johar has said that this was part of his vision of escapism.

Farah Khan and Boman Irani re-created scenes and characters from KKHH for posters to promote their film,[63] and also paid homage in one of the songs, "Ramba Mein Samba".