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Happy birthday Karan Johar: It’s time to crown him India’s entertainer-in-chief
On Karan Johar’s birthday, we make a case for crowning the filmmaker as India’s entertainer-in-chief.
There are few people in the world who deserve the word mogul prefixed to their names as much as Karan Johar does. In a span of around two decades, Karan has made himself synonymous with Bollywood. He may have been born with a silver spoon but through these years, Karan has played on his strengths.
It would not be stretching it too far if one was to call him the country’s entertainer-in-chief. His directorial is always an event movie, his production rarely fail the box office test, his chat show is still the most popular one on television and even his Instagram escapades with his kids have garnered a loyal viewership. Karan Johar is the closest thing we have to Bollywood personified and he knows how to sell it just right.
Karan’s first film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai arrived in 1998 and was instantly iconic. The film was funded by his filmmaker father Yash Johar but Karan proved right on his first ball why deserved to be on this pitch all along. People loved the cute love story, the infectious songs and the star power of Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji. Therefore, when he launched his second film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), the anticipation and the scale was even bigger than before. With this one, Karan showed how family drama and tension can make for a blockbuster at the box office. K3G was emotional and fun in equal measure.
His next films all came after long gaps, sometimes taking him five years to get behind the camera.Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, My Name Is Khan, Student of The Year and finally Ae Dil Hai Mushkil ranged from stories of adultery, racism, high school romances and unrequited love. They all found their audiences upon release. Now, Karan is working on perhaps his biggest and most opulent release, Takht. A drama set in the Mughal era, it tells the story of warring brothers Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh. Like always, this, too, boasts of an enviable star cast that any other director would give a limb for. Indian audiences have often proven their love for period pieces and a story about the ways of the Mughals was a long time coming.
When not behind the camera, Karan stays extremely busy with a tonne of other jobs. He runs the Dharma Productions (he took over after his father’s death) which has produced some of the biggest blockbusters of recent years and also some of the most critically acclaimed. While Simmba and Good Newwz were box office darlings, critics loved heaping praises on Raazi and Kapoor & Sons.
“Many times, I’ve seen the final cut of a film and said this is going to be a disaster. I never lie to the director, if I don’t like the film I’ve seen, how can anyone else like it? Barring Kurbaan and Brothers which were the two films I really liked and I feel they didn’t reach their optimum, but I could be completely wrong. All the other failures I’ve known of,” he said about his role as a producer in 2018 to Live Mint. “I love if it’s either a clean disaster or a big hit. I hate the in-between ones that neither go here nor there.”
But disasters rarely happen to Karan Johar even outside of the movies. Of course, when ‘disaster’ happens on the sets of his show Koffee With Karan, it always spells good news for TRPs. From actors forgetting who is the President of India to cricketers gloating about their sexual conquests, controversies have always worked in the favour of his popular chat show. Karan always knows how to get the most out his guests, who are also often his friends outside the four walls of the studio. Surely, there are some exceptions such as Kangana Ranaut, and even they inadvertently end up giving the audiences more than their money’s worth.
His interviewing talents extend away from Koffee With Karan and into his own home as well. Karan’s videos of his twins Roohi and Yash have been giving his fans and followers some much needed relief from the drudgery of the lockdown. The glimpses he shares into his life as a single father, getting continuously trolled by his kids, are a warm treat for all hears longing for love and affection.
Karan Johar has always been a treat to watch whether it has been through his movies, his productions, his chat shows and even in his Instagram Stories. We wish him a happy birthday and another year of awesome stories.
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