Karan Johar’s tired of selling exotic India to the West, and also wants a soulmate to chat with, he tells Gayatri Jayaraman.
Diction as clear as running tap water and a love for a good chat any time of day that’s Karan Johar for you.
The Khans and Queens of Bollywood are all his best pals and Abhishek Bachchan, he tells you, is like a younger brother. Jaaved‘saab’ and Amitabh‘ji’ and Jaya‘ji’ are dreams he’s touched, and the Manish Malhotra ‘chaniya-cholis’, the grandiose sets, and the lavish luxury of exotic India dance to the baton of his directorial fingertips.
But the crescendo spent, the finale done with, and the baton set down to rest for a while, beyond the limelight, the sets, the camera and his star friends, Karan Johar’s a much simpler, and somehow, a much lonelier man...
Q : What’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G) in terms of milestones to you? A : With my first film (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ), I basically did whatever I wanted to establish myself. I proved to myself that Indian cinema is a place where I belong, and wanted to be. I established myself by trial and error. I needed it to be a commercial success, and it was.
As far as K3G goes, Dad has been around for a long time he’s this sincere, hard-working guy, who needed a commercial platform. And I wanted to give him that using things that I was passionate about, that inspired me and that had affected my sensibility. I wanted to make something like Kabhi Kabhie a multigenerational saga.
Q : Yes, but why the father-son eternal love? A : K3G stemmed from the need to explain why fathers and sons around the world live in a zone of phsyical discomfort. Why they stop communicating with each other after a certain age, while other relationships in the family mother-daughter or mother-son remain fairly comfortable ones.
I stopped hugging and kissing my Dad after I turned 16. And I just found that this was a level of discomfort that existed universally across all cultures.
Q: That granted, you do get kind of grandiose... A : The era of a glamorous Bollywood, replete with all the theatrical grandeur, began with Hum Aapke Hain Kaun . And I wanted to be the one to draw the curtain on it. I have always loved the actresses and actors of yesteryears the Waheeda Rehmans, the Amitabh Bachchans, the Dilip Kumars, and the Madhubalas I am a total Golden Era person. And I wanted to be the one to bring it all together in a grand finale, so to speak.
Hence K3G was a final farewell to that era. Now I can say I have worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya‘ji’, Lata Mangeshkar and with Shah Rukh and Kajol.
Q : Oh, you mean it’s the wraps for glamorous, expensive sets and theatrics? A : No, I wouldn’t put it exactly like that. Glamour and gloss are my trademark. But it’s obviously time for a change. Now I’m looking at something new, though I don’t know yet what genre that will be. I’m still thinking.
Q : You’ve been criticised for selling exotic India to the West... A : I don’t think a film can ever succeed if it is made as a ‘crossover’ film. It will always fail unless it has the strength of plot, and unless it pleases the audience here first.
Lagaan succeeded because it was never made for a foreign audience. It was simply a well-made film in itself, never mind the fact that a foreign audience took to it.
Most of the overseas market is made up of NRIs it’s not a foreign audience, but an Indian one, it’s just that they are there instead of here. Having said that, I strongly suspect that Indian films are doing well there because kitsch is in.
Going by the feedback I get, what comes through in our films are the song and dance, the colour and the music. And I do hope they are not just scratching the surface, but will go beyond it to what we are actually saying.
Hollywood traditionally runs away from emotion, while we express it. We don’t make musicals, we celebrate instances in life with song, dance, theatrics, expensive clothes and three-hour films. That’s just who we are. Why should I stop doing that just because that’s not what the West does?
Q : Does Lagaan ’s nomination change anything for the industry? A : Look, Lagaan made it, not because the West suddenly sat up to take note of India, but because, probably for the first time in 25 years, India made a film that deserved to be nominated. It would be very foolish of me to now expect a film of mine to be nominated just because a breakthrough has been achieved!
Q : If you say the era of glam and gloss is over, where do you see Bollywood going? A : In this past year, we served our audience a buffet of films for the first time. There was Lagaan , a glamorous K3G , a very sleek and hip Dil Chahta Hai and a very action-packed Gaddar . And the audience responded in its own way to all of them. That obviously means it’s up to us to educate the audience and dish out a variety of stuff. There’s no one way to go.
Q : How do you get your ideas? Work regularly everyday or as and when you feel like it? A : I need to generate the idea and the story within me, otherwise it won’t work for me. I am open to receiving scripts, etc, but essentially, the story has to be mine. Your casting has so far been very mega star-based. Comment.
I firmly believe that people like Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan are the superstars of today. I love their acting and I love them as human beings. And that will always show.
Q : Tell us more about your friendship with Kajol. A : (Laughs) I love her. Shah Rukh and Kajol are wonderful people. But don’t listen to what she says Kajol just talks a lot of rubbish!
Q : Speaking of love... A : (Squirms a bit in his chair) Given a chance, my Mom would get me married tomorrow! But I’m not sure I’m ready to wake up to the same person every day. On the other hand, yes, I do see myself getting there. I’m at that stage when I go home at night and find that I need someone to chat with.
There’s a limit to the things you can tell Mom and Dad, no matter how close you are to them. So I’m getting there maybe a year or so from now, I definitely want to get married.
Q : Anyone on the scene? A : Unfortunately in my line of work, you don’t get to meet different people. I meet the same people every day. And that’s not too good for romance! I think an arranged marriage will be more my style.
Q : Whoa! An arranged marriage? A : Yes, the proposals are coming in. But I mean an arranged marriage that’s more like a dating service, that allows two people to meet.
Q : Excuse me, which girl’s going to go home and say she didn’t like Karan Johar! A : Aaah, yes. That IS a slight problem! I like to be treated normally.
Q : Is that something else that gets in the way of your meeting the right person? A : Yes. Sometimes when I go to a party, and feel there’s someone I’d like to know better, I see that look that person gets, when you are celeb I’m kind of tuned into that now.
I can make out when someone’s trying to be too loud or trying to catch my attention. In fact, that happened with...(pauses). That happened with... Oh never mind, it happens a lot!