5 Reasons Why Bollywood Secretly Owes A Lot To Karan Johar Movies

Larger than life sets, exotic locations, the grand pooja ki thaali to silver foiled laddoos, there’s something strangely perfect about Karan Johar’s movies.

Not to forget, the uber stylish costumes, fleet of imported cars, luxury brands (which he can even turn into a song) and just glamour pouring from every corner of the frame is what generally describes a quintessential K Jo film.

But let’s take a moment to acknowledge the man, the unfathomable creative genius who writes stories from the heart which can even make the mind go down on its knees. Dharma’s head honcho, whose life looks nothing less than a dream tale, is more than just a Malabar Hill boy, at least at the movies. His overrated inclination towards NRI audience is somehow indigestible, because even the desi Indian audience gets lured or at least thinking about his movies, every time he dons the director’s hat.

And mind it; he’s only directed six films in total (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil being the 6^th). A lot of people confuse his productions like Shaandaar, Kapoor & Sons, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which do have a hint of his creativity. But factually, he’s made 6 movies, each with a bold concept, ahead of his times and got his due of backlash and accolades. Let’s take a trip down memory lane before we see Ae Dil Hai Mushkil this Diwali.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Karan was an assistant director in Aditya Chopra’s DDLJ. One fine day during a discussion, SRK and Kajol sat down and agreed that if he makes a film, they’ll be a part of it. A few years later, they kept their word and they did one of the blockbuster movies of 90s with Karan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

Karan wrote both the halves and went to London to shop himself for each outfit. He wasn’t very sure of how he’ll connect the two halves, until he sat on a bench outside the John Lewis store at Oxford Street opposite Mc Donald’s. He gulped a few burgers and decided that Tina (Rani) would leave letters for her daughter Anjali (Sana Sheikh) and the rest we know is history.

A douchebag called Rahul, a UK return sanskari woman and a tom boyish girl who later gets a makeover to meet the stereotypical standards of being feminine, in order to woo the lead actor. Quite a harsh synopsis of KKHH right? Or, to put it in a little softer tone, KKHH is India’s beloved college love story which brought the fashion of falling in love with your bestie. People, who could never imagine such relationships, began believing in KKKH and we bet if you look around, there’ll be at least one person saying that they can relate to this movie.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham

Bebo aka Begum Kareena Kapoor Khan owes a major chunk of her success to her best friend Karan Johar. Thanks to her character Poo, K3G is one the most ambitious, larger than life yet emotional movies of Mr. Johar. It’s all about loving your parents, studying at a posh university in London, yet retaining the sanskars of the family is what this movie preached. More than NRI audience, Indians can’t do without a leja leja performance in their shaadis and sangeets till date, thanks to K Jo. So this movie proves that he does attract the masses.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

K Jo’s bravest attempt at the movies so far, KANK almost got trampled under the hate that our sanskari audience showered over the film back in 2006. In a ten year old interview, Karan Johar said, “There was a time when I made films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which only spread love, but when I make a film like KANK which is closer to reality, then also some people have a problem. I am glad KANK is being discussed. It only shows a mark of success for the film.” For the first time ever, Karan Johar’s hero was a flawed! Yes, so he’s never really refrained from taking big risks, even with the biggest of the stars.

My Name Is Khan

Karan took a leap of faith and ended up making the most talked about film back in 2010 with his favourite stars, SRK and Kajol. The movie which mostly garnered praise at the theatres and from the critics carries its own bag of mixed reactions from a lot of people around the world. An autistic Shah Rukh, and a complex narrative sets this directorial venture of Johar, class apart, especially because he broke his image of being a larger than life filmmaker and took up a sensitive subject.

Student Of The Year

Two years later, he gave Bollywood, three of its biggest stars today, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra (yes in that order). While this movie was sighted as just another Dharma Movie with a big budget, stellar star cast and some unrealistic life lessons (because five star schools don’t exist in India). What makes this movie a milestone in K Jo’s career despite the massive backlash on its glam quotient, is his three gems which he’s gifted Bollywood. This man’s eye for exceptional talent has given a star like Alia Bhatt who gives the older actresses a run for their money, and Varun-Sidharth who are the legitimate heartthrobs of the fraternity.

After all this while, there’s a lot more scope for assessing Karan’s work because we haven’t seen enough of his own directorial visions. He may have ghost directed some movies, especially Kal Ho Na Ho, but this man should make more cinema. He’s made himself a brand today, but his magic wand at the movies is still awaiting more magic. The fact that he can make movies without the yoke of being commercially successful is what makes him the most popular and loved celebrity in the industry. With Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, he’s taken up yet another bold subject where we’ll see Ranbir romancing Aishwarya Rai, so let’s wait for more good karma at Dharma!