Despite being controversy’s favourite child, Karan Johar has never shied away from speaking his mind. From allegedly setting up actors with each other and encouraging fake rumours to paying for positive reviews of his films, Karan has been accused of doing several shady things over the years.
The filmmaker is known for being a good host and throwing generous, fancy parties for his Bolly buddies. At one such party recently, many A-listers, including Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Vicky Kaushal, were in attendance. As always, Karan grammed a video from the party, with a caption “Saturday night vibes,” and it went viral in no time for an extraordinary reason.
Reports of drugs being consumed at his house started doing the rounds after Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa claimed that the actors were under the influence at the party. In a series of tweets, he even asked them to get a drug test done and share the reports on Twitter to prove him wrong!
In a recent interview, Karan spoke about how he finds such allegations ridiculous and dismissed them all. He said that if drugs were being consumed at his party, he wouldn’t have been recording it for Instagram. “There were achieving members of the industry who were having an easy night out after a hard week of work, having a good time. I took that video with all the earnestness… would I be putting out that video if there was anything happening at all, I am not stupid.” You cannot argue with that logic, no matter what you saw in that video.
However, this is not the only such rumour KJo has had to clarify.
Here are some major controversies Karan has been caught in over the years.
When you are as outspoken and influential as KJo is, these things are bound to happen. Let’s take a look at some of his biggest newsworthy moments.
When Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were on Koffee With Karan
Over time, Koffee With Karan has become like a tabloid where you get to listen to celeb secrets from their own mouths. If nothing else, KWK has earned the title of an entertaining chat show that is also a “controversy generator”. Every episode makes headlines, and the most recent was the one featuring cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul.
The sixth episode of the latest season was marred with misogynistic comments and received heavy criticism. After the episode aired, the two cricketers were sent home in the middle of the ODI series in Australia, a punishment considered “justified” by their teammates. Karan felt responsible about these repercussions, and although the audience continued to call out Hardik and Rahul for their insensitivity, many believed that Karan was equally guilty.
Hardik, an all-rounder, apologised for his offensive comments, but he, along with Rahul, was temporarily suspended by the BCCI. Karan claimed that he had been having sleepless nights just thinking about the incident. He said, “I would still love to have them [cricketers] and welcome them with open arms to my show but I don’t think they’ll come.”
But seems like it’s all water under the bridge now since Karan and Hardik were seen shaking a leg to Dilliwali Girlfriend from Karan’s film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani at the Ambani wedding recently.
The double trouble of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
All India Cine Workers Association announce a total ban on Pakistani actors and artists working in the film industry. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/QpSMUg9r8b
— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2019
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was Karan’s passion project, but he was under immense pressure and got into a lot of trouble during its post-production. Firstly, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was released during the aftermatch of the Uri attack, in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed. In the wake of the attack, the All Indian Cine Workers Association banned Pakistani artists from working in the Indian film industry. Fawad Khan played an important role in the film, so the association asked Karan to reshoot his parts or the film would be banned. Karan refused to do so and paid a fine instead.
At the same time, the release date of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay was clashing, so Ajay leaked a recording on Twitter of a conversation between Kamaal R Khan and Karan, where the filmmaker was asking KRK to give a positive review of the film in lieu of some payment. But the worst of it was that this cost him his friendship with Kajol as she also commented on Ajay’s tweet, writing just one word, “shocked”. They later made up.
Kangana Ranaut’s comment on him being the “flagbearer of nepotism”
This is one controversy that never really got resolved. Kangana Ranaut joined Saif Ali Khan on the Koffee couch two seasons ago, and accused KJo of making fun of her for her acting and incorrect English. She also called him “the flagbearer of nepotism in the industry”.
Even as KJo tried to settle the issue, this conversation did not end on the Koffee couch, and the two debated and sparred for months on end. Team Kangana agreed that Karan only promotes star kids and doesn’t give many chances to anyone from the outside. Team Karan (which mostly had people from the film industry) believed that star kids ultimately got what they deserved. It remained a hot topic of discussion in the country for months, but it’s not like it changed anything in the industry.
When KJo took a dig at Prabhas
Karan is an emotional person, and that shows in everything he does, including his tweets. However, at times, these tweets land him in trouble. He may not name a person while talking about them, but it’s not very difficult to decode. A while ago, he tweeted, “Dear Ambition…if you have to achieve your full potential stay away from your arch nemesis….Comparison!”
While these could just be some words of wisdom from the filmmaker, rumour had it that it was about Baahubali actor Prabhas. Apparently, the Telugu superstar was supposed to make his Bollywood debut with Karan. However, it couldn’t happen as he reportedly demanded a fee of Rs 20 crore, which is a staggering amount for a debut in the Hindi film industry.
When he almost destroyed Anushka Sharma’s career
KJo is known to introduce new talent in the industry but looks like he was a bit harsh on Anushka Sharma during her debut. In an interview with an entertainment portal, Karan revealed that he questioned Aditya Chopra’s decision to cast Anushka in Band Baja Baraat. He said, “I went back on my word. My word was that she should never be picked. I told him (Aditya Chopra) not to cast her. He showed me her photographs and other stuff, and I was like ‘Are you mad? What are you thinking?'”
While promoting Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Anushka said, “I am happy I am doing the film. He was going to make me go out of the industry itself (sic).” We’re so glad Aditya Chopra did not listen to Karan!
The art of Bombay Velvet
YouTube
Kamaal R Khan, aka KRK, basically dragged Karan into this controversy. During the release of Bombay Velvet, KRK claimed that he was threatened by Anurag Kashyap and Karan, who made his acting debut with the film. He said that KJo offered him Rs 25 lakh to give a four-star review for the film. At the trailer launch, a reporter asked Karan about KRK’s comment. He asked her if she believed what KRK was claiming. Her answer was no, to which Karan replied, “I rest my case.”
Karan has handled most of these issues with remarkable calm, at least on the outside. But we hope he’s not running out of patience, because as long as he has an opinion, he will have to deal with the fallout of it.
Featured Image Source: Mid-Day
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