Karan Johar shares blistering citation of Bollywood filmmakers

In a recent interview, filmmaker Karan Johar shared blistering citation of Bollywood filmmakers’ inability to mount big, event films.

Following years of churning out comedies and romances, Hindi cinema retraced steps to large-scale event films with the success of similar films in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada cinema. However, there has been mixed results.

Karan owes it to the present crop of directors in the industry who simply lack. skills to mount such films.

In a conversation on The Streaming Show podcast, when Karan was asked if Bollywood has a ‘director crisis’ when it comes to big-scale event films, as most such films are made by directors from the south, Karan in response said that it’s a director crisis. You can’t think of more than a name or two. There isn’t anyone, because that entire generation spent their time watching a different kind of Hindi cinema, nurtured on a alien kind of cinema. Globalisation, the Shah Rukh Khan phenomenon, stories shot outside the country, they love all that, but haven’t been able to do that
front-footed testosterone cinema. They have never known it. Now, they can’t learn it. So, they opted to emulate it and fall flat on their face.
‘Thank God for Saiyaara’

Karan has been vocal in lauding South filmmakers such as 
SS Rajamouli, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, and Prasanth Neel, known to mount these event films.

Amidst the interview, he said that Bollywood directors need to go back to what they know best, and cited Saiyaara as an example. “So, probably, we don’t have the directors to mount those kinds of films.
Hence, if we can’t, then thank God for Saiyaara. This, we can do. When he had met Mohit Suri, he told him that all the filmmakers from the south called him, and it was so gratifying to know, because we are the ones calling them. We are always picking up the phone, telling them how incredible their films are. We do one thing well, so let’s do that. Let’s go back to our storytelling,” added Karan.

Mohit Suri’s directorial Saiyaara, featured newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda in the lead. It has emerged as the
highest-grossing love story in Indian cinema, minting over ₹500 crore worldwide.

Karan’s last directorial was a romantic drama, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, featuring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, grossing over ₹300 crore upon its release in 2023. It recently bagged National Film Award, too.
 
News Edit KV Raman