New Delhi: Director and producer Karan Johar called Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra the only reason he is able to tell stories today. In an Instagram post on Wednesday on the occasion of Guru Purnima, he recalled two conversations with them that changed the course of his life.
The first conversation was with director Aditya Chopra, who called Karan at 1 am and asked him to assist on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).
“I was melodramatic and filmi and firmly believed that the only thing I needed was an interval because I was on a treadmill (not the one gyms are famous for). He said if I didn’t pursue this path, I would be making a huge mistake,” Karan wrote.
He shared that he was unable to sleep the entire night and went to his father the next morning to ask for a year of his life to work on the film set, with “moist eyes” that were not because of emotion, but due to lack of sleep.
“Beta… will you know what to do on set?… I said an emphatic NO. He asked, ‘Will you promise to work very hard and follow every instruction? That will make you a producer,'” Karan recalled.
He said that at the time, Chopra was the only person who believed in him and his passion for filmmaking.
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Keeping a promise
Recalling another life-changing conversation, Karan said he and Khan were standing on a hilltop in Switzerland when he was pretending to be homesick. During the conversation, Shah Rukh told him that whenever Karan directed his first film, he would be its lead actor.
“When you become a director, I’ll do your first film,” Karan quoted Shah Rukh as saying.
At the time, Karan thought, “He’s probably low on oxygen and may not completely know what he is saying.” However, Shah Rukh was serious and even spoke to Karan’s father about the film.
“We got back to India. My father (who was mildly hard of hearing) wasn’t sure either… but SRK was serious. He believed in me for a reason I can’t quite comprehend even today… just like Adi did.”
Keeping the promise, Johar did his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hot Hai in 1988, starring Shah Rukh Khan. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and also won eight awards at the 44th Filmfare Awards. This film became a box office hit by collecting nearly Rs 106 crore worldwide against the budget of nearly Rs 30 crore.
Karan concluded the post by thanking both Chopra and Shah Rukh for believing in him and for standing by him through his “ups, downs, wins and losses.”
(Edited by Saptak Datta)