Film Industry: SHAH RUKH AND I HAVE THE BEST DIRECTOR-ACTOR CHEMISTRY ANYONE CAN HAVE

SHAH RUKH AND I HAVE THE BEST DIRECTOR-ACTOR CHEMISTRY ANYONE CAN HAVE

Karan Johar may easily be the most loved man in the film industry. He is not just versatile, but also a big individual brand to reckon with. He is a cinema child, who loves Bollywood music. He is not only unapologetic about what he does, but also does it with panache. He loves the flashbulbs and the paparazzi and would hate it if he is not recognised. In a conversation with Bombay Times, he talks about his vision for Dharma, his enhanced stardom through TV and his unbeatable jodi with Shah Rukh Khan. Excerpts:

How do you see Dharma from here? We are on the brink of something larger. Just like me, we are also playing two roles. My company is as Gemini as I am. We are boutique in operation, but studio in content supervision. We are walking like a line in between the two and finally, we have to take a side and I am hoping that the side is the larger vision. But I am not interested in getting into distribution and exhibition. I am definitely interested in upscaling the infrastructure and the physical space I operate in. Apoorva (Mehta) and I are just two people running the show. I look after creative and he, the financial side of our business, just like two brothers would do in a company. And we are very excited with the growth. I lost my dad in 2004. In 2013, we have upped the ante and positioned ourselves in the bracket of leading production houses and studios. While films like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani made money for us, equally important is a film like Student Of The Year, which helped me build my brand value amongst the youth. I am really proud that at 40, I made my youngest film. We launched 13 filmmakers and created new stars through SOTY and want to continue to be the ground for new talent.

Is it a conscious shift for you to be associated with films like The Lunchbox and Bombay Talkies that you did not do before? Yes. We would now like to spread our wings to making and supporting all kinds of genres. The image I have had of making the more family, bubble-gum, NRI kind of films, will take me a lot of time to deconstruct, but whether it was directing a film like My Name Is Khan or being a part of Bombay Talkies or associating with films like The Lunchbox, we do want to spread our wings. You could argue that why would I want to deconstruct at all, but that is because my sensibility adheres to all kinds of cinema. While I love the films that I have made in the past, I am also an audience that would clap in my seat watching The Lunchbox. I am a cinema child. I grew up watching parallel films as much as I watched potboilers. That kind of varied repertoire that I have for cinema is what I am trying to bring into Dharma.

Even though your film was much appreciated, did you feel uncomfortable directing Bombay Talkies? Not at all, as I made a film I strongly believed in and thoroughly enjoyed making. When you don’t have the sword of the box office hanging on your head, you can really flourish in the film business. I wish I had the courage to make a film with what we call risqué content at a large level. Some of us are so scared of failure and going wrong as individual brands, that we tend to protect ourselves and land up making films only in our comfort zone. I would personally like to break out of it. I can’t at this age, at this stage, still be worried about success and failure. But I also know that whatever I write will always be mainstream, as that is what I am as a viewer. I am a Gemini and can adapt to most atmospheres. You get two for the price of one when you are a Gemini.

Geminis are known to be doublefaced. Can you portray what you are not? I do that on a daily basis. I am not always myself. Who in the industry does not? I am always acting, be at a party, at work or in office. My attitude changes from meeting to meeting, from being serious to intense to funny, depending on who is in the room.

When are you yourself? Only at home with my mum when I am silent watching TV and we are both staring at it. She will ask me how my day was and I give her an organic reaction. That is the only time I am myself.

What made you judge a dance reality show? While the reason for judging the show was initially monetary, as TV pays you a lot, I actually enjoyed it. I spend so much monies on my films that the money I make from television supports my personal indulgences. There is this whole perception that we are this multicrore company, but we spend a lot of money in our movies and we are amongst the few people who pay well, spend well and project our films in a certain way. That indulgence to invest in films is me and me alone. I would clearly choose to make a great film with no money versus one which is okay with lots of money. Money is a great upside, but cannot be the only motivating reason to be in the business. Yes, cinema is a balance between the art and commerce, but if the tilt is not in favour of the art, then I am in the wrong place.

Has TV made you a bigger celebrity? Yes, and I love the limelight. I feel if you do something don’t be apologetic. So, I won’t feel apologetic about dancing because I am a filmmaker. You can either be apologetic and have people laugh at you or enjoy what you do, so that people think that if he is enjoying it so much why should we judge him. But that is me and I am not apologising. No other filmmaker in the world will dance on a reality show, but I am a museum piece and there is only one of me in the world. I love to dance whatever my ability may be and I am truly proud of whatever I have done. I am very happy when my name is screamed out and I have to wave. I have an outof-body experience because as a child, I had always dreamt of walking the red carpet. I do it with a lot of panache and am very happy when I am recognised. I like the flashbulbs on me and the paparazzi invasion and walking the red carpets all over the world wearing my black suit and tie, with all the attention. I am very happy when I am recognised and very unhappy when I am not.

Will you direct Shah Rukh Khan again? Yes, I can’t wait to. Shah Rukh and I have the best director-actor chemistry anyone can have. He knows it, I know it, we know it. Every time we come together, we will make a magical movie. He knows my beats as a filmmaker and I know his, as an actor. The way we understand each other, I don’t think I will be able to have that tuning with any other actor. When I write a film with Shah Rukh in it, I will put in that pause I know he will take. Likewise, he knows the emotion I need. He will look at me and say, ‘You want it more teary, right?’ We have that understanding that comes from the amount of time we have spent together. I have spent 500 days of my life on set and 2000 days personally with him. So how will I not know him better than any other filmmaker? The connection we have can be rekindled any time and it will always be like it always was. We have the synergy that words cannot have. We have a silent understanding that from my end, is a lot more respect, and from his end, is a lot more love. We will work together when I write that script for him that not only warrants his superstardom, but also a film that he has not done before.

No one can multitask like you do. How do you manage? I have no personal life and no spouse and kids with all the time in the world. Those eight hours that you would give to your relationship or spouse, I give to my work. Me and mum are my life. She is an extremely understanding woman and she understands my passion. All I do is work. I am in office sometimes first thing in the morning and here, till midnight at times. I have no social life beyond a point. I am at parties where I have to be, but my heart is not at parties anymore. Very few people engage me and few conversations excite me. I have no interest in anything that is not work-related. It’s not that I am a workaholic, but it’s just that I am lucky that my work is my biggest hobby in the world.

Have you found a successor for Dharma? I don’t have one right now. Main aur meri tanhayi aksar yeh baatein karte hain.