They Are Calling Kjo's“Kalank"One Big Blemish On His Glorious Career Till Now

Ali Peter John

Why doesn't man realise that the most powerful emperors, monarchs, kings, generals, presidents, prime ministers and even some of the most enlightened men and women have a blemish (kalank) or two even more in their glorious careers? It is a part of human nature or a way of life to see how the almighty and the giants rise to great heights and then make one small mistake and all that they have achieved comes crashing down for the mistakes they have made knowingly or unknowingly. This one blemish (kalank) makes their most ardent admirers and their devout followers run away from them like rats flee a sinking ship. It is difficult to rise to the kind of peaks of success which very few achieve, but it can be very damaging, demeaning and almost a major accident when the same man or woman makes that one mistake for which he has to pay a heavy price till he has the guts to stand up again and prove that a mistake or a blemish or a blot is not permanent, especially if you have the spirit of fighting back still burning bright in you.....

These are my questions and my thoughts when I think about the lambasting, the laceration and even the modern day punishment of lynching Karan Johar's latest magnum-disaster“Kalank"has recieved from every section of life, whether it is the experts from withis the industry, the self-appointed film analysts, the everyday critic and what is worse, the masses who have strangely developed an attitude in which they are gleefully happy when a film like“Kalank"fails to live up to the high expectations raised right from the time it is started, to the time it is shot and till it is released and throws itself open to face the slings and arrows, the stings and the venomous bites or recieve all the appreciation and applause.

Karan Johar's“Kalank"unfortunately has had to face the attacks of the first and most horrible kind which can give a sensitive and sensible filmmaker who has been very careful in making good films sleepless nights and terrifying days as news comes in from different centres about how the film is falling by the wayside with every passing show. These are not, certainly not the things that were expected from Karan Johar who the media and several sections of the industry have elevated and placed on a pedestal. Karan has had a great past which started with“Kuch Kuch Hota Hai"followed by“Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham",“Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna"and other films like“Kal Ho Na Ho",“Agneepath"and other films which he got other talented directors to make for Dharma Productions. He struck back with a small film with three newcomers in“Student Of The Year"which if nothing else, gave the industry three new stars in Varun Dhawan  who was his assistant once, Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Malhotra one more assistant of Karan.

I may be completely wrong, and I hope I am wrong, but I feel that it was at this stage that Karan took himself as a“Guru"very seriously. He left making films for Dharma Productions to other directors and concentrated on being a powerful face of the industry and was seen on TV in some very prestigious show, made prestigious by his presence and participation in them. He was also seen as the representative of the industry in national summits and conclaves in which he spoke (and he spoke very well, like he always does)  on the subject he was an authority on-the problems and issues facing the film industry. He had become a household name not only in circles connected with films, but also among others and among people in other industries. He had in a way become as or more popular than the stars he worked with....

All this and making good films at the same time, I think was too much of work to be taken on by one creative man, however enlightened and talented he was....

“Kalank"I think was made during this time,a time when Karan was more busy in building a new and bold image for himself. It seems that it was while“Kalank"was being made that Karan was more involved in fashion shows, attending grand wedding receptions and taking care of his twins. All this takes away a lot of time and even though Karan is a master of his craft, it looked like he had left“Kalank"entirely to his director, Abhishek Varman and his co-producer Sajid Nadiadwala and all his big stars, Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit who were making a comeback after almost twenty years, Karan's students Varun and Alia, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha....

This writer's friends who he believes are more knowledgable about films and are better qualified than most of the learned critics of today who don't ever know the“ABC"of cinema asked them to see“Kalank"as he couldn't make it for personal and physical problems. The friends came back with disappointment screaming and hollering on their faces and their eyes. One of them even threatened to“kill me"for sending him to see such a boring and absolutely rotten film and the others joined their voices to run down Karan's mismatched missal (a popular snack made of left over snacks, especially found in the lower class of Udupi Hotels and hotels where they have a strong Maharashtrian clientele. I could never expect this kind of a nasty reaction to a film made by Karan Johar, the son of my very good friend and the friend of the entire industry,“Uncle"Yash Johar who was the production controller of filmmakers like Dev Anand, Sunil Dutt and Raj Khosla besides being the main support behind filmmakers from Hollywood who shot their films in India.

Karan who had started as an assistant to his his childhood friend, Aaditya Chopra in“DDLJ"in which he also played the friend of Shahrukh Khan who was later to play a very important part in the grooming of Karan as a director. He had mastered the art of dealing with every department of filmmaking of which he made very good use in the making of his own films. By the time he had directed his third film, he was called“The Little Master"and he was treated in par with some of the best filmmakers...

But, why did he let such a big and ambitious film go haywire. The writing was mediocre, the music was nothing to write home about and there was such a strong influence of the films of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whether it was in the taking of scenes or the picturization of songs. Was it necessary for a man who had created his own style or school of making films have to stoop to borrow and even downright imitate the work of a well-known competitor in the race? Wasn't Karan aware of how the film was being shot and how it was becoming a long, marathon film which kept losing direction from time to time? Why did actors of the calibre and experience of Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri and the fresh talent of Varun, Alia, Aditya and Sonakshi have to look so lackluster and uninvolved? If these were major flaws, then I don't know what a flaw (kalank) means.

I know since I have spent almost half a decade watching great makers trying to make great films and failing, but it was too early for me to see one of the big hopes of the future, Karan, making a blunder like“Kalank". And believe me, I have never spoken about any film as a critic or an authority on films, but have always reacted to films like the common man in the streets. And this reaction to“Kalank"is not inspired or influenced by any outside power, but it comes straight from the heart of a man who cares.

It is way too early to write off Karan Johar, no, we can't and will not let you. Karan is now all geared up for the release of“Student Of The Year 2"in which he has Tiger Shroff and two new students, Ananya Panday, the daughter of Chunky Panday and Tara Sutaria.... And if it is Karan Johar, he will be the last man to sit back and sulk after the disaster of one film. He knows he has many more promises to keep and biggest promise is the unwritten and unsaid promise to his father, the founder of Dharma Productions whose company was given a new lease of life by his only son. Will Karan stand-up and gave the future with the faith and the fortitude he needs at this crucial stage of his career.

It is time for all who know him and his work to know that he will say,“mujhe kabhi alvida na kehna mai vapas lautunga aur mai fir jeetunga".

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