Rewind 2023: EXCLUSIVE! Karan Johar on Alia Bhatt, nepotism & being troll favourite | Not Just Bollywood

Firstpost’s Lachmi Deb Roy caught up Karan Johar popularly known as KJo at the Red Sea Film Festival when he spoke about why he is called the father of nepotism, dealing with trolls and how he knew from the very first day when Alia Bhatt walked into his office that one day she is going to become the biggest actress of the Indian film industry.

KJo also spoke on how he deals with trolls and how he doesn’t allow trollers to affect him. He believes critics deserve a lot of respect because they don’t come with an agenda. He has taken the words of prolific critics very seriously and learnt from it.

Edited excerpts:

You have been often called out for nepotism, what do you have to say about that?

Alia Bhatt is one of the most successful actors that we have. She is my favourite and in many ways my first born. When she walked into the room for the audition, it didn’t matter who her father was or who her sister was. I felt that all the additions that I had she just jumped out. Many years later it has been attributed to nepotism which is sad and unfortunate. I have always been tagged as leading the nepotistic army.

When someone walks into your room to have a conversation. I have always operated on my instincts so whenever someone comes to me, I realise then itself that  whether this individual will one day edit a film for me or act for me. There is no rational, no reason or audition, but just your instinct. Instinct for me is my first thought.

In Bollywood, we have been labelled as leading in nepotism. And when the New Yorker covered this cover story on nepotism, I felt they were late to this party. It is our country, India, to start a conversation on nepotism. This is a big talking point in India.

How do you deal with trolls?

I am a troll favourite. I get trolled a lot. And I have started enjoying it too. The only thing is when you can’t beat them, you can join them and the only way you can join them is troll them back. Eventually I don’t let these trollers affect me because I have a name and they don’t. You are hiding behind your name and I am not. As far as critics go, I have a lot of respect because I believe none of them come with an agenda.

Most creative artists tend to live in bubbles of our own and bubbles that we like to create. We bring people into that bubble who are basically ‘yes men’ and women. We go on to believe them. It is important for us as filmmakers to read the reviews by critics and understand that while they may love your work, they have things to say. I have taken the words of prolific critics very seriously and learnt from it.

On AI and filmmaking…

When I was 25, I made my first film. I was vulnerable and innocent and a lot of your writing comes out of innocence. At 25, I was all about convictions. So, there is an upside and downside.

My journey in cinema when I started off we used to edit on a machine called the steam deck. You know technology has evolved in front of my eyes. We saw the emergence of computer graphics, the emergence of camera technology, and drones never existed in those days when I started off. So much change we have seen with the digital revolution. Change is evident and the same happened when black and white films moved to colours. The magic of film is so different from what the digital world can give you. But then you accept it and move on.

On being a film producer…

Being a son of a film producer, I grew up in the lap of Hindi cinema. But in the 70s when my father was a producer, I remember being a producer was the most thankless job. I have seen my father managing delusion and ego. The thing about delusion is that there is no vaccination for delusion and it’s a disease that keeps growing. As a producer my father managed delusion and ego and as a producer now 25 years later, I see myself doing the same.

Biggest inspiration

 During my growing up years it was vintage Raj Kapoor. I really looked up to him. I was obsessed with Yash Chopra’s cinema. These two have been a great inspiration in Hindi cinema. In Tamil cinema it is Mani Ratnam. During our growing up years I watched a lot of Indian cinema and then Hollywood, there was Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. They have done a lot to the world in terms of technology and storytelling. Steven Spielberg blends technology and emotion in possibly the most organic and beautiful way.