Karan Johar on damaged reputation as a serious filmmaker owing to the other projects he does

The moment one thinks of Karan Johar, the obvious thought that comes to our mind about the many films he has directed is his large scale family dramas or romantic sagas with a twist But in all his directorial films so far, the one film that was not just a very brave choice but also a huge risk for the man was My Name is Khan. The film with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead dealt with a Muslim autistic man in the United States who deals with Islamophobic discrimination after the 9/11 attacks. 

The film marks 13 years of its release and recently in an interview. He opened up on how is definitely proud of the film and it stands tall on his oeuvre to this day. He also said that the reason this film is so special is that it was the first time he surrendered entirely to the vision of a writer, in this case, Shibani Bathija. Johar also opened up on how after doing Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and My Name is Khan back-to-back, he was emotionally drained. And hence, he went back to making a candyfloss film like Student of the Year.

Needless to say, Johar credits a huge chunk of the same to Shah Rukh Khan. He said how the volume of research he did on Asperger's syndrome and the time he took off to get the speech and body language right showed his dedication to the film and his role. According to him, this was his career best along with Chak De India and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.

Finally, when asked as to how despite being phenomenally successful, why isn't he taken seriously enough as a filmmaker. To this, he said that maybe because he does so many fun things that doesn't tally with the image of a 'serious filmmaker'. He concluded mentioning that if he did have a chance to do his career all over again, he would still do everything exactly the same way. He mentioned how he would still judge Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in the same fervor as directing My Name is Khan.

Apart from TV assignments, Karan Johar is all set to mark his return as a filmmaker with Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani in July 2023 after seven long years, where his last full-length directorial feature was Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.