Before he became famous for his controversial talk show ‘Koffee With Karan’, elite producer Karan Johar is a brilliant filmmaker who directed classic films like ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham’, ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’, ‘My Name Is Khan’ and others. He is multi-talented and one of the most influential personalities in Bollywood. He launched the careers of many through his ‘Dharma Productions’ banner and is constantly giving films of various genres.
His recent directorial venture ‘Rocky Aur Raani Ki Prem Kahaani’ turned out to be a super hit and proved that he is still a top director. Talking about the character in the film to which he is very connected to, he said, “Vicariously, we live our lives through cinema. Even in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Tota Roy Chowdhury’s character (Chandon Chatterjee), Alia’s father in the film, and what he spoke about being laughed at as a child when he wanted to dance. It was pretty much a section of my childhood where I was considered different from the other boys. Unusual. People would use all kinds of words at that time that were hurtful.”
He added, “Very easily, you can get weakened by what people say about you. But I felt like ‘Thank God I have cinema where I can express myself.'” He went on to say, “I believe that tomorrow if I wanna dance on the stage, some would call it effeminate, some will call it a piece of art. I’m not afraid of judgment anymore. I feel like I have been through the fire and now I can face it. Now the trolls don’t matter to me.”
Karan explained, “At one point of time, you have to realize that you live your life once. If you start succumbing to external pressures, you will never be able to live your life the way you want.”