Filmmakers Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar share one of the most talked-about friendships in the Hindi film industry. Karan has often credited Aditya as a key influence and inspiration in his journey in Bollywood.
Their relationship, which dates back to their early days as aspiring filmmakers, has stood the test of time despite their very different personalities and public personas.
Aditya Chopra stays very far from the media – he avoids interviews, shuns public events and maintains an almost mythical level of privacy. In contrast, Karan Johar is one of the most visible and outspoken individuals in the industry. He has cultivated a public image through his films, fashion choices, active social media presence and his long-running, and often controversial, celebrity talk show, Koffee With Karan.
Aditya may have influenced Karan creatively, but he couldn’t convince the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai director to lead a public life like him. In an old conversation, Karan recalled that Aditya found him “irritating and annoying” because of his talkative image. “He has left me. He was one of the first people to tell me, ‘Why are you doing this talk show (Koffee With Karan)?’ And at one point he left me because I was everywhere.
He said, ‘I can’t handle it anymore. You bother me, you bother me, you annoy me. I can’t handle it. This is working for you, you do what you want,'” Karan told Komal Nahta. Karan also shared an anecdote from when one of his films was releasing and he was caught up in intense promotional activity. And then he slammed the phone down on me.”
Karan recalled that he called Aditya back to find out if he was really angry with him. Recalling the conversation, he said, “Aditya told me, ‘I am fed up with you… you are on magazine covers, you are on hoardings, you are on coffee mugs… can’t you be everywhere?'” Karan admitted that Aditya is the only person who can scold him so blatantly. “Only he can scold me.
He shouts at me and I shut up in front of him like a student in the principal’s office. My parents have never raised their voice at me, but Aditya Chopra shouts at me.” However, Karan also shared his love for Aditya Chopra and Yash Raj Films.
“Aditya Chopra and YRF have made me. I am grateful to them for my career. It is the worst thing when gratitude is not acknowledged. People go to temples and do everything but they forget the basic gratitude.”
