Karan Johar says Jaya Bachchan was Rocky Aur Rani crew's favourite person on set: ‘She’s not Dhanlakshmi'

Karan Johar said in a new interview that Jaya Bachchan, who played Dhanlakshmi in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, is not “this persona at all.”

You won't believe who Karan Johar picked as the crew's “favourite person” on the sets of his latest directorial Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: Jaya Bachchan. Infamous for her words in public, Jaya is assumed to have the same temperament on set. But Karan reveals in a new interview with Midday that she's unlike her character Dhanlakshmi behind the scenes. (Also Read: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: Jaya Bachchan as the angry old matriarch is a masterstroke in casting)

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is Jaya Bachchan's third project with Karan Johar

Karan's revelation

“My crew, if you ask them, who's the favourite person on set, they'd say Jaya Bachchan. She's not this persona at all. She's not Dhanlakshmi,” Karan said in the promo of the interview yet to be aired in full.

Jaya played the angry old matriarch Dhanlakshmi in the film. She builds the family business of sweets into an empire in Delhi, yet is a conventional working woman who wants her daughter-in-law to cover her head with chunni and wants to get her plus-sized granddaughter married off at the earliest against her wishes. She plays the grandmother of one of the titular characters, Ranveer Singh's Rocky, who tries to avert his plans of marriage with Bengali journalist Rani, played by Alia Bhatt. Jaya plays the wife of one of her first co-stars Dharmendra in the film.

Karan on Dhanlakshmi's arc

During the success meet of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, which crossed ₹150 crore at the domestic box office, Karan explained why she didn't want Dhanlakshmi to have a quick turnaround like all other characters. “There was a big debate about ‘Should she come around? Should she not? Should she be at the wedding? Should she not?’ I said she cannot come around. I was like life is not easy and there is payback. She has obviously her own karmic situation which had to be dealt with,” Karan said.

This is Jaya's third collaboration with Karan after his 2001 family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and his 2003 romantic comedy Kal Ho Naa Ho, which he produced and wrote. It was directed by Nikkhil Advani.