At the Jaipur Lit fest, a packed crowd at the front lawns listened to Bollywood director Karan Johar talk about his memoir, An Unsuitable boy , with writer Poonam Saxena and Shobhaa De.
Karan started by talking about his childhood in a “snooty” South Mumbai neighbourhood, where Hindi movies were looked down upon and Karan was picked on for being effeminate and overweight. “I was called Pansy and was always upset about it.”
Tongue-in-cheek, he admits, “I was a little stupid being upset on being picked up because I was fat. I needed someone to actually tell me to lose that weight, instead of being fed more food when I wept at home.”
Karan says, “I loved to dance at home and my parents never found it odd that I did not dance at the male lead parts, instead preferring the female lead parts of songs such as ‘Dafli Wale Dafli Baja”. I was always enamoured by Hindi movies.”
He called the terms ‘Freedom of Expression’ and ‘Democracy’ a joke in India. Karan says, “I call myself the FIR king. It is virtually impossible to speak your mind in public. We have our scripts vetted by the legal teams to ensure that the script is not offensive to anyone and most times, we are handed back a highlighted script.
I think it is not fair. I am hopeful that the panel headed by Shyam Bengal will change the way the censors work in India.”
Talking about his collaboration with Poonam Saxena in the making of the book, Karan admits, “We had many long sessions where I talked about my life. These sessions lasted more than two hours at a stretch. I felt that it was cathartic and a hugely therapeutic experience personally. It has helped me a lot.”
Karan contends that in a country where section 377 is still in vogue, he does not consider it unusual that most homosexuals did not want to come out of the closet.
“You could be tortured 377 times for admitting it. It is important to change the perception of people. Just changing laws will not help much,” he quips.
Karan defended his portrayal of homosexuals on screen and pointed out, “I used humour as a device. It helped to send a message and ensured that many are able to talk about it in the open.”
Karan’s brush with the underworld happened just days before the launch of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , a movie that defined young cinema and catapulted him into the big league.
“My mom received a call from the underworld and was terrified. I was surrounded by cops and was air-dashed to London and could not even attend the premiere of the movie.
I remember weeping with joy in a tiny telephone booth in London when I heard that the movie was a huge blockbuster.”
He was candid on his views on Bollywood and termed it as a fraternity only in name. “There is no tolerance for failure.
I however love making films and will continue doing what I love. I do not aspire to be another director. I am happy doing what I do.”
The author is at JLF on the invitation of Teamwork Arts
