Forbes India Leadership Awards: Karan Johar's Take on Cinema

Indian filmmaker Karan Johar has completed 25 years in the film industry. Apart from directing and producing films, Karan is now spreading the magic of his talent on the OTT platform as well.

Recently, during the Forbes India Leadership Awards, Karan Johar talked about his journey with Palki Sharma, Managing Editor of Firstpost.

Karan talked to the assistant director in the film 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' about his production house's journey to 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' and the new cinema of the new era.

When Palki Sharma asked Karan what does cinema mean to him? In response to this Karan says, cinema is everything to me. It's my identity, it raised me, made me dream, and ultimately, made many of those dreams come true. My mother took me early in the morning to a screening at Eros Cinema in Churchgate where the first film I saw in a cinema was 'Roman Holiday'. I was mesmerized by moving images, by what I was seeing on celluloid, and by the beauty and romance of that film. This is where my cinema career begins.

When asked whether Karan thinks like a businessman when he makes a film or does it sometimes happens that he makes a film that he feels needs to be made even if it does not run in theatres. In response to this Karan says, I am the son of a producer, and that too at a time when producers were not respected so much. While on one hand, I saw the layers of art being revealed, on the other hand, I also saw another part of the film world. So I think my thinking is a mixture of commercial and art. Mainstream cinema is in my DNA, so whenever I make any film, it is mainstream cinema, even if I don't want to.

When he was asked, "You had many commercial successes and you also made films like My Name Is Khan or Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, whose content was perhaps ahead of its time. Would you be able to make these films today and would you make any changes to them? Would you like to do?" In response to this Karan said

When I directed My Name is Khan, I was a very strong believer in talking about the misinterpretation of religion around the world at that time. This was after 9/11, and I felt very compelled to tell that story.

When I wrote Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, it was about the emotional turmoil in many homes. Infidelity is a reality and monogamy is rare, but many people said to me, 'How can you support infidelity?' So I said, 'How can you support something that's already sold?'

But as a filmmaker and content creator, you want to work on all types of subjects. Coming back to your question, given a moment when I believe strongly in something, I will be able to tell that story. If it comes with conviction, the audience will notice at some point. Maybe not when it is released, but somewhere it will get accepted.

Nepotism is in our ecosystem

Talking about nepotism, Karan says that the film industry has always been a soft target. We are judged daily. Bollywood is on your face all day long. Anything that is attached to Bollywood always becomes a soft target. Nepotism is present in our ecosystem. This point is being stretched a bit too much regarding films. Nepotism is everywhere. I would never have been able to direct a film at the age of 24 if my father had not been a producer.

On this occasion, Karan talked about some of his upcoming projects, including his film Yoddha, releasing on March 15, 2024. Siddharth Malhotra, Raashii Khanna, and Nora Fatehi are in the lead roles.

On this occasion, Karan talked about different aspects of cinema and also talked about how films impact society.

 -Ayushi Sinha

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