When Karan Johar accepted his cinema is about song and dance: ‘I want to be fun and fabulous’

Karan Johar is returning as director to feature films after seven years. The filmmaker, who turns 51 on May 25, has only directed segments in the anthologies Lust Stories and Ghost Stories in that time. He has, of course, been quite prolific as producer and the head of Dharma Productions. Over a decade ago, when Karan had launched three newcomers in Student of the Year, he had stated that he really enjoys making films with song and dance. His cinema is more about escapism and he likes being ‘fun’ and ‘fabulous’.

Karan’s next film as director

The director’s next is Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani with Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. The family entertainer also stars Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan. The film, written by Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan and Sumit Roy, will release on July 28, 2023. Most of the films that the filmmaker has made, with the exception of My Name is Khan, have had big dance numbers in them. His last film was Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

In a 2012 interview with Digital Spy, before the release of Student of the Year, Karan had said, “I love music. I love song and dance. I love glamour and I don’t apologise for it. People ask me, ‘When will you make a film about real issues?’ and I have done that with My Name is Khan and I’ve enjoyed doing everything, but for me cinema is escapism and I feel that when audiences come to see my films they need to venture into that world.”

He had further added, “I don’t want to show something that doesn’t have that gloss and glamour and I don’t want to lie about it. I don’t want to be serious and intense at all. I want to be fun and fabulous.”

Student of the Year

Karan launched Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra in Student of the Year. It was the first time that he and his production house were working with newcomers as their leads. All three have had successful careers in Bollywood since their big launch.

Besides Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, Karan has also co-produced the Akshay Kumar-starrer Selfiee. It failed at the box office when it was released in February. He is also producing the action thriller Yodha which stars Sidharth, Disha Patani and Raashii Khanna. It is due for release this year.