Rekha, was replaced by Tabu in the Abhishek Kapoor directed romantic-drama, which stars Aditya Roy Kapoor in the lead.
"It (working with Rekha) was nice. But then she and the producers decided to part ways for their own reasons. That was very sad because I have known Rekha ji for a long time and we have our own independent equation together. That was the only sad thing. Every film has its destiny and you have to respect that," Kaif told PTI.
The film, which is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel "Great Expectations", will have Tabu play the role of Miss Havisham as Begum.
The 32-year-old "Phantom" star will be seen opposite Kapoor for the first time, but she says, the duo recently got to know that they had worked together for an advertisement almost 11 years ago.
"Adi and me have been working since the same time. He had interviewed me as a VJ for my film 'Humko Deewana Kar Gaye'. We searched for the interview on YouTube and laughed our heads off.
"And then Adi pointed it out to me that 11 years ago, on my second or third ad film, Adi was in the ad as one of the boys in the group. He was in the ad and you can see him very clearly. We looked for that ad too and had a good laugh about it."
Kapoor plays the character of Noor in the film, and Kaif, who will be seen playing Firdaus, credits their equation to their friendship.
"We have a funny equation. We both have been working for long but obviously I have done many more films. He is a really nice person. He is also part of my friend circle. We knew each other well."
"Fitoor", which was shot in Kashmir, marks Abhishek's fourth film as a director, after his 2013's hit drama "Kai Po Che" and Kaif says his interpretation of the classic novel fascinated her.
"'Fitoor' was a script Adi and I were really excited about. I thought it was such a beautiful, passionate love story but not cliched, it was very new. Abhishek has got a very unique vision that shows in the films he has made. He has got his sensibilities and his take on things. The film is an retelling of Great Expectations but I really liked his adaptation." "Fitoor" also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Lara Dutta, Rahul Bhatt and is scheduled to release on February 12 2016.
