Karan Johar dissecting his Films

35 Comments
  1. Ritz 11 years ago

    Loved the interview. Thanks Sputnik for posting it. So he is maturing. He thinks KKHH, kkkg were idiotic. He is accepting all the gloss and showy factor in his movies.

    He is kind of right when he says 50s 60s being more progressive cinematically than now. He says today we are just

    “Technologically progressive but regressive in thinking.

    Emotional evolution in the today’s audience is ziltch.”

    True words. Today’s audience thinks changing camera angles and fast paced editing means that movie is fast paced. Very few care about characterization, mood of the film. All that matters is BO.

    I was hoping there was a question/mention of WUS in the interview. That was the only movie which I liked from his banner.
    There is no doubt about hardship and research which went into making MNIK. But over-ambition killed it for me. And I was kind of more harsh also maybe towards it due to my disliking of srk…

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      I loved the interview too and he is right in calling KKHH and K3G idiotic. He is also right that he should have made KANK without all the item songs and the whole huge big movie set up. As I said before he was on the right path with MNIK but the movie went downhill after SRK’s character lands in Wilhelmina. He is saying that Shibani’s research was great but I don’t agree with that. She is supposed to have lived in US for some time and she should know that you cannot have a town like Wilhelmina with all those African American characters in a movie. That is considered offensive by African Americans coz that is a stereotype from old Hollywood movies.

      The problem with Karan Johar is that he does not have the guts to go with his convictions. He will make commercial compromises or add scenes intended to emotionally manipulate certain section of audiences.

      And as bored says SOTY is no different than KKHH.

      • Baba Ji 11 years ago

        I know you and bored both have not seen soty so that makes you an “utkal”.But for arguement sake, soty is as similar to kkhh as sholay is to double dhamaal.

  2. Bored 11 years ago

    Karan Johar seems to have realized that he is lagging behind Bollywood’s maturity curve. He can call KKHH idiotic now, but his latest SOTY is no less! He is yet to act on his ‘realization’.

    SOTY managed to do 70 cr, whereas Talaash is doing 90 cr! Its sure to hurt him and he did end up saying “Aamir has changed Bollywood”.

    Recently he attended Marrakech in presence of SRK and Hrithik to celebrate 100 yrs of Bollywood cinema on a global platform. Movies of Hrithik that were screened were Jodhaa Akbar, ZNMD, Agneepath and K3G. While the first 3 are the best films Hrithik has done till now and enjoyed box office success too – K3G is an embarrassment when showcased beyond our Bollywood audience.

    SRK’s films screened were Don 2, JTHJ and K3G – again only Don 2 is a film that can be ‘shown’ outside Indian audience without embarrassment.

    Things have changed and the likes of Chopras and Johars has been caught in a time warp for too long. The only ‘promise’ Kjo showed has by financing Agneepath. Not that its a great film, but good enuf compared to Dharma standards. Didnt mind WUS or EMAET either – but these romcoms are not too expansive in their ambitions in the first place itself.

    • Baba Ji 11 years ago

      “He can call KKHH idiotic now, but his latest SOTY is no less! ” this is where you are wrong. your critisim on soty is on false grounds.soty was never intended as a serious film like say kkhh which was supposedly his modern take on relationships back then.if you ever happen to watch soty anytime ,you will understand what i am saying.it doesnt hv a single serious scene.it is indias own high school musical . it is IMO kjos most honest work (!) he made a total unpretentious film not giving a damn to please anyone. in kkhh/k3g he tried to chopra,in mnik he tried to be mani ratnam,in soty he is kjo 😀 notice how he did not have to defend/critise soty in the interview.

      “SOTY managed to do 70 cr, whereas Talaash is doing 90 cr! ” again,this is more like a compliment to soty. i dont think anyone was expecting it to not flop including me.given the almost nonexistent market for puppy cheesy musical romance today, and with such unrecognizable faces in cast, it did only 15-20 cr less than a full-blown (also fulfilling the maturity curve parameter as you put it) aamir khan film after 3i.that puts more a question on aamir and talaash,but thats a different debate.

      On the interview,kjo has been very honest and its a welcome change to see.good take on kkhh,k3g,kan etc, i wish he would be more honest about his insincere work in mnik in future.but nonetheless, every srk fan should see this interview. its an eye opener for them.

      • Bored 11 years ago

        Peppy romcoms always have an audience, be it in 1998 or 2013 – there are always college going gals and their boyfrds to chew up this stuff. The audience base and the film-making intent is same be it KKHH or SOTY (seen both but never continuously – its too tortuous).

        The only difference is that they cater to two different generations due to the tame lag in release – which accounts for the really ‘subtle’ differences between the two!

        As far as I know baba, were you of age to watch hindi movies back in 1998? 😉

        • Baba Ji 11 years ago

          but earlier you said kjo is lagging behind the “maturity” curve of bollwyood. Quite clearly you believe that today audiences like mature work compared to cheesy fest of kjo. Following the same assumption/logic you made that 70-90 cr comment about talaash/soty.But now you are saying soty has a significant audience base suggesting Bollywood has still not appreciated the “maturity” curve.you contradicted your earlier comment here.

          • Bored 11 years ago

            Yes there is an matured audience today who dont mind spending quite a few bucks to watch a decent movie at a nearby plex – but i dont mean school gals when i talk abt this audience.

            No rocket science here, and plz lets leave it here instead of arguing just for the heck of it.

          • Baba Ji 11 years ago

            matured audience was there back then too. but there were no plexes back then like there is today. hence the low gross at that time. but there is no bollywood maturity curve etc as you were trying to convey. the bigger hits of the year will always be the OTT/cheesy films.

          • Bored 11 years ago

            The industry did not get much opportunity to mature until the mature audience started buying tickets. The makers who didnt care abt this portion of the audience are all falling behind ala Kjo and the late YC – and next will be RR.

          • Baba Ji 11 years ago

            I judge films based on the world they are set in. if soty is set in a stupid world and it doesnt try to be pretentious ,i am good.thats why i enjoyed hf2 also. agneepath was good in its intense drama but the excessive emotional scenes between hrithik and his mom stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise fine film in its world.

          • Bored 11 years ago

            Never tried to judge with respect to ‘worlds’ but only from genre. Agneepath is not a great film from any angle but SOTY, HF2 are intolerable stuff – but yes they work with a segment of audience (quite an alarmingly large demography i am afraid) – so nothing surprising abt your views.

          • Baba Ji 11 years ago

            well even i prefer some genres to another. thats a different thing, but genre wont become a prime factor for me to like/dislike a film.the film has to remain honest to its genre/world. thats my whole point.

          • Bored 11 years ago

            yes and as I said the problem is HF2 or SOTY are poor movies in their genre, what are you arguing abt?
            If you want to lower your sensibilities just because its a comedy or a chick-flick – thats your prerogative.

          • Baba Ji 11 years ago

            soty belongs to the genre of teenage musicals like high school musical series . Now if you tell me high school musical is a very well made ,well acted respectable film (in conventional sense),then you need to get your brains checked.its as stupid as soty and the film is not about acting or story.neither is it a chick flick. a better option is to have knowledge of such films instead of guessing what the film might be (chick flick, comedy etc) and drawing conclusions on such guesses.

          • Bored 11 years ago

            Lack of exposure is your problem, if you cud only checkout all the B-grade high school stuff US makes (most goes directly for DVD or TV) then you wudnt be making such ‘tall’ claims abt SOTY.

        • Baba Ji 11 years ago

          HSM is a very successful series not just in US but aroud the world. so its you who lacks knowledge here.i hvnt made any tall claims for soty. i only said the film doesnt try to be manipulative in its genre.

  3. RAJ 11 years ago

    Never liked most of KJO’s work…Infact KANK is the movie which i liked most from his work…Yes ,it could have been a far better movie without those item songs and a bit of less ambition in terms of scale..

    This is a very candid interview…but why it should be an eye opener for SRK fans is beyond me…If a director feels in certain way about his own movies ,then so be it…what is his lead actors”s fans has to do with it ????

    • Bored 11 years ago

      This interview is eye-opener only for KJO maybe …

  4. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Its very honest of KJo to slam his biggest success KKHH but I am curious about this? Has any other Bollywood filmmaker slammed his biggest hit?

    @Baba,

    As utkal said once I have a lot of movies to watch. So I can’t waste my time on SOTY :smug:

    But seriously I watched KKHH after ten years of its release. So it will take some time for me to get to SOTY.

    • Bored 11 years ago

      Dont think u are missing much anyways.

      • Baba Ji 11 years ago

        well he just saw MFK few days back. 😉

        • Author
          sputnik 11 years ago

          hmm lets have a deal. If you watch Always Kabhi Kabhi I will watch SOTY 😉

  5. bunty 11 years ago

    plz koi btayega ki abhi bms me D2 ke delhi me 4 show dikh rahe the ab 3 he ,.ek show ka colour change ho gya .,kya yeh advance ke karan he ya ,.kuch aur ??

  6. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Karan Johar accepting that the flood scene was bad in MNIK. Thanks to Sanket for these videos.

    Karan Johar on the business expectations of MNIK.

    • sauravjha 11 years ago

      Wow ! This is some candid interview, can’t think of any filmmaker who has admitted his mistake so beautifully n openly he even admitted that he “wanted to prove” something and it’s the main reason why film(scene) didn’t turn out the way he exactly wanted it to be. Good interview need more of such reflections on movies. This will help in making better cinema and maybe help them to establish better connection with the audience!

  7. Ankur 11 years ago

    Nice. I’d like to see other filmmakers & actors also analyse their films and speak candidly on them.

  8. narad_muni 11 years ago

    WOW, I liked the interview. Excellent candid interview…

  9. jeetu 11 years ago

    Liked the interview. But he fumbled in last portion defending kids from film background. Can he cast a really fatty gal and wait she lose weight. They all landed roles because of some filmy connections though that may not be the only reason.
    Otherwise, is there dearth of talent among struggling newcomers?

    • Baba Ji 11 years ago

      struggling newcomers will not be able to play the roles required in soty because thpse strugglers have seen hardships in life. Atleast two out of three in the lead cast of soty required to be played by those born with a silver spoon.Bcos when they play those characters, there is an amount of real life experience involved as they have been there,done that.(wearing designer expensive clothes, partying,night life etc) . An outsider or struggler who doesnt have such lifestyle wont be able to do it with conviction even if he is the best actor in the world.

      Just like it needed three star-son/ affluent family kids to star in DCH/znmd. you cant have irfan khan ,nawaz or even akshay playing those roles. they wont be able to look convincing as the unapologetic upper class who believe in extravagant lifestyle.

  10. jeetu 11 years ago

    Another thing i didn’t like about him criticizing and calling Indian society hypocrite. Is he daring enough to admit his own sexuality? Isn’t he trying to be morally right by not admitting it. His words will mean a lot the day he marries man of his choice without caring for society.

    • Bored 11 years ago

      errrr … what if that man is already married?

      • jeetu 11 years ago

        If he is married, he has to admit. If he didn’t because of fear of society, he is biggest hypocrite. He has all fame and stature and he knows he will be welcomed in society, after all gay-ism is legal in India, and still he wants to prove himself morally right. why does he expect normal people in society should embrace infidelity ruining their relationships. Wont that send a wrong message in society? Infidelity is simple form of cheat, while being gay is no crime and well accepted. And that’s why i say he spoiled such an honest interview.

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