DOTW: Why is K-Jo still allowed to make films? - Page 4

Originally posted by: desigal90

Great post!!

Ok, I WHOLE HEARTEDLY AGREE!
Dostana was a HUGE disappointment. The first half was a total ripoff of I now Pronounce you CHuck and Larry with the punjabi mom angle tossed in, while the second half was more mockery made outta the entire issue.

Currently he's taking on two movies on terrorms, Qurbaan (With saif, kareena, vivek, and om puri), and My Name is Khan.

I must say though, that I would have been petrified of Qurbaan had Karan planned to direct it himself.

THANKFULLY, and FORTUNATELY, the man put in charge of Qurbaan is Rensil D'Silva, who was the script writer for Rang De Basanti. And Im hoping aginast hope that Karan Johar keeps his inputs outta that movie! Let Rensil direct it the way he wants!

The rest I leave up to God.

Lets see how he takes on My Name is Khan.

Even the most brilliant of scripts can turn into craptastic films, given the wrong director. Yes, a tight screenplay is the backbone of any film, but a director who lacks vision, creativity and inspiration will take a great script no where.

I don't care if Cameron Crowe (a God amongst insects) came to Bollywood and wrote the script. K-Jo and Co are only capable of producing mind-numbingly dumb, spineless fluff.

I also think the actors for his terrorist films are wrong. This isn't about glamour or big stars. Maybe he should focus more on the story than marketing.

If they want to learn how to make a film based on such a topic, Rendition is the film. It was hard-hitting, to the point and asked some very tough questions. IMO that film was brilliant, such a shame the masses didn't see it that way. But as you mentioned, it's not about glamour or the big stars. The script needs to be realistic and the characters need to have depth. Anyone can make a film on terrorism. But in order to make one closer to life, you need cannot see things as black and white and need to look at the bigger picture.

Originally posted by: Kaj!

firstly, i would like to thank the person who made this post. this had been something that was in the back of my head for a very long time. Probably ever since KANK had released.

For me, Karan Johar's best and only good film is Kuch kuch hota hai. The film is simple compared to the other stuff he has made and this film shows the honesty that this film was made with. it shows this strive that Karan might have had during that time to make his first film with hard work and honesty. But i must say that over the time, his movies portray corruption to me.

K3G... well what can i say? I hated the way he conceived the character of Poo. she was totally corrupted! (i mean she must have been born n brought up in india n moved to london at the age of 11, n now is 20-21 yrs old n has embraced western culture in such a way that it seems hard to digest). i mean feeling the need to be sexy while praying? is that what the west teaches you? I don't know what London Karan went to coz the London that I'm from doesn't lack culture! I disliked the way he was showing how kids being brought up in western shores r more bound to succumb to bad ways of lives, well thats what i understood of it while watching his films!

KANK is something that had many many mistakes! Didnt he notice them while it was still in the scripting stage? He says that the four characters flawed individual (arent we all? but moving on...). Well firstly, srk n preity's characters were best friends at college right? then y this indifference? i mean, dont we all want our spouse to be someone who can be our best friends too? no one forced them to get married. As for rani n abhi's character, ok she feels like she has to return the favour for raising her etc. but then again, if u really r like a daughter for him, do u think he wud have taken offence if u had refused to get married? he wud have thank u for saving his sons life lol. but i guess karan needed an excuse to show loveless marriages.

Rani's character is so cold towards her husband, for no reason. she doesnt bother to give the marriage a chance. she looks for excuses while srk's character lets his wounded male ego take the better of him. Ok, i cud probably say that srk's character was slightly realistic in this case coz if a man wasnt earning n the wife had become the "man" of the house, that may hurt him. But from what i know of the film, it seemed as if both rani's n srk's characters were lookin for an excuse to cheat on their partners; it cud have been the doodwaala aur kaam waali bai for all we know, but it happened to be the main lead in the film. karan made infidelity seem as simple n common as "one day i woke up, i went to the supermarket, i got a loaf of bread, i commited infidelity, i went home and went to sleep"! I dont think the subject was treated sensitively or sensibly in the film at all.

n y did he make it such a glorified happy ending? two ppl got cheated on, did u forget about them? suddenly everything becomes sugarcoated and theres a happy ever after ending. that is selling to me that he is promoting infidelity😕 was that the intention?

Back to karan, y does he have to waste so much money on irrelevant things and hundreds of firangi dancers? seriously dude, at times, we just dont care n wait for the song to finish so that we can get on with the film! n what was with the priety's character in KANK? she was the chief editor of some western magazine? n so was priyanka in Dostana. im not trying to sound rude but in the media industry in the west, it is rare that u will see an asian at the top, unless its for an asian magazine or channel. there r still some discriminations that go on. he really needs to do some research. not every asian person in the west live in mansions n walk the streets half naked. we have morals too dude!

N something that i really really really dislike is that he himself confessed that he makes films for the NRI audiences. erm do u actually knw what they want? have u ever bothered to ask them what they want? no, rather u force feed them expecting them to lurvee ur "masterpiece"... n then u wonder y u dont win many awards anymore! Yes i agree srk is a superstar n most NRI audiences wud love to see him, but plz stop giving ur actors such shabby characters. have u ever wondered y Chak De India n Srk's character was liked so much? Maybe becoz it wasnt another plagiarised done to death love story!

I see a lot of superficiality in his films. if u aint got money n u aint got the looks, u aint wanted here! thats what his films usually scream out to me. whether its in the form of the chubby rohan in k3g, the tomboy anjali in kuch kuch hota hai or even the chashmish naina in kal ho na ho! inner beauty takes a walk in his films! its all about loving ur exterior, hai na K-JO? 😉

ok i think i shud stop writing. written an essay on my feelings, but honestly i dont hate him😆. i just dislike it when things cud have been made with simplicity and honesty but r made with such artificiality n baseless opinions.

when i heard about him making "serious" films now, it got me even worried! i dont think hes such a efficient director to make such films. im not denying the fact that he has experience, but someone who refuses to go out of the confort zone for a film, (i.e. not casting srk) is quite doubtful to me. i wonder how much the directors of kaal n dostana had to fight to not cast srk?

👏👏

Amazing post! I concur with all the points that you have made, and you've hit the nail on the head. His films are full of hypocricy and double standards. I love your take on KANK, and I fully agree-- there's no motivation for characters to act the way they do, not to mention, their development is so paper thin. Plus, the last excruciating hour of KANK takes us on a tour of emotional convolution so bizarre and grotesque that one wonders if the film was originally meant to be a comedy. 🤢

I have always believed that K-Jo's success lies in his being part of the band of beautiful people of Bollywood. His movies have succeeded because they provide the audiences of the Indian subcontinent and now of the diaspora, predictable story lines, comforting endings, rich pageantry of costumes, music, dances and a vivid color palette.

Unfortunately, all this success has gone to his head and he has actually started to believe that he can handle the complexity of adultery, failed marriage, and homosexuality.

With regards to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, you know, as light and fluffy it maybe, at least there was cohesion in thought.
👏

Originally posted by: pksanam

Huma, excellent point...

and i forgot to say it earlier roxy, but this is an excellent topic... finally some serious discussion...

i do agree completely that when they are making a film, they need to be sensitive as well to the sentiments of a certain community whom they are making the movies... but truth is, i find so many faults in so many movies, i have tend to overlook them... and i am dead scared of watching a movie on riots, NOT because i am not comfortable but because it is a touchy subject and people don't exactly always get it right... there is always this prejudice.... hence, i have hardly liked such movies earlier and now, i just avoid them... even depiction of a simple community whom one has NO clue about and one makes the movie and it actually becomes a hit too, does not make it right... so i have kinda gotten over that anger phase... when i was younger, i did use to get quite heated up that why would they make such a movie and do they even do any research before making a movie on a certain topic...

granted, many have improved now, but i don't know... even yash chopra is guilty of that...! dostana had it's moments but i do realize that that is not a true depiction of gay community... unfortunately, not many do and take it at it's face value... that is where the problem arises and people tend to typecast them... and built a certain image in their mind about what they think the gays are like... which is WRONG...!!

if we go by stories and totality, K3G the second half was truly a cringefest, barring a few scenes... even earlier scenes were kind of overdone, to be honest... and same with KANK... i watched them because of SRK, i won't lie... but do i watch them over and over again... answer is NO...! reason is simple, they are not even realistic as far as the stories go... but since how many directors have handled such topics in a sensitive matter... only one that came close to was Metro... and i have to give Madhur props for that... the guy knows his subject and he always makes movies that entertain...

for example, i have watched SIK and CC2C quite a number of times, despite having many many mistakes... reason is simple, they are funny and they manage to entertain... if i get into the nitty gritties, then yes, both of them are not exactly the best of movies... in fact, some people would call them the worst movies... and i can understand that...

as for the subject of global terrorism, i don't think ANY filmmaker has done justice to the subject... and even Rensil has his faults... although, rang de basanti was quite a good movie but it was a different subject... it does make me wary and i don't know if i will see it... MNIK is another scary one... i will for sure watch it for SRK and Kajol... but whether they'll do justice to the story, i highly highly tend to doubt it...!

even with the upcoming New York, i have fewer hopes... considering it's coming out of yash chopra's camp... and truth is such subjects are just not their forte...!

p.s. you can call me sanam...

Great post yaar! I have to agree with the last part of your post. I have some serious reservations about the film, and I can already see it being preachy and heavily unbalanced, but I'm still willing to give it a chance. There are very few filmmakers in India who have evolved to the point of understanding sensitive issues and portraying them without making a mockery out of the situation, and sadly, none of them are known to the mainstream audiences.

I sincerely believe that RDB was Aamir Khan's creation. 😆

Originally posted by: nkapoor

OK GUYS IT SEEMS LIKE I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO WILL SUPPORT KJO AND HEAR ME OUT!!

ok first of Dostana is only produced by KJO, the script, the direction nothing is his own! he only provided the director with finance, and wid costume designers like manish malhotra and a choreographer like farah khan for desi girl! the movie was amazingly funny, and hence did well! and i dun feel the subject was handled wid immaturity, the way the gays were accepted in the film as a part of the community was amazing!

2nd of all the film kuch kuch hota hai is one of a kind! no film like kuch kuch hota hai had came before, the chemistry between 2 best friends, their love for each other, such amazing performances, such a well written script, such mature direction and concept, along wid such heart warming fun moments, that make u laugh ur heart out, all are commendable! still cn't get ova the chemistry between srk-kajol, that movie had won so many awards! i have watched that movie a 100 times, i know the movie back to front, no one can make anotha kuch kuch hota hai

K3G-again, such a huge star cast, such a huge grandeur for a film, and such an entertaining film, wid such emotional moments that will make u cry, the love of a mother and son, the importance of a family is shown beautifully, yes, it might be too long, or might be to in the face, but no one can ignore the fact, that how entertaining the movie was! the songs are still played in parties, the fact such huge stars of 3 generations were in it, makes the movie so huge and evergreen, it was only karan who cud've provided wid such a heart-wrenching script, wid such fun and emotional moments, casting such a huge star cast, recording such beautiful songs, and using the write stylists and choreographers! is sumthing only karan can do! this movie was a blockbuster!

NOW CUMING TO KANK-lots of people didn't get this movie, personally when i first watched it, i luved it, but didn't exactly get it, because we as movie cinegoers are so use to seeing moral heroes, srk in k3g touches his father's feet while being kicked out for goodness sake, this is when KANK steps in, with a very realistic script and very real characters! they are many people who keep extra-maritial affairs, and many times espeially in kekta serials they are shown as men who want variety in life and want to sleep wid otha women, but that's not the case for everyone, the main reason that extra-maritial affairs happen, cause people get married to get settled in at the right time, and dun marry for love, but marry just for the sake of it, and dev and maya are shown one of those people, they wud've been happy if dev kept playing football, and maya conceived and had a child, but both were torn and broken, wat makes it worse is that no matter how nice their life partners are they dun feel any love for them, and while helping each other, they discover unimaginable comfort, attraction, love in one another, and are soo much in love, that take a step towards an inmoral decision, upset their life partners, understand that they are the one's at fault, live a lonely life for 3 years, appologies to their partners, and then at then end get back wid each other, to spend their bitterful life wid each other, which will be fixed by the love they share, and their previous partners also find people that love them bak, and now they'll be happy! i think its beautiful!! the main message in the movie is dun marry just for the sake, marry for love, otherwise u'll end up hurting others and urself! i absolutely luv this movie! the passion between rani-srk, the script, the dialogues, the comic scenes, the songs, everything is amazing! and my most fav picturised song 'tumhi dheko na!', very realistic movie, luved it.

karan is getting realistic and trying to make 'hatke cinema' and i am pretty sure 'my name is khan' will be a further step to a new cinema, he has also dropped the 'K', karan is the only one who can make a movie which incorprates so many emotions and be so very entertaining, with realistic and novel scripts! and i think he shud continue making films! i luv all of them!! way to go karan!

Thank you for your input. Needless to say, I highly disagree with your post, with points I've already stated throughout the thread.

As far as I know, Dostana was K-Jo's idea, and it was marketed, as Huma said, as if K-Jo was the Messiah and a voice for the gay community.

With regards to KANK, there's nothing to 'get' about the film. Great subject matter, but K-Jo turned it into tripe (again, for reasons I've stated through out my posts).

Originally posted by: mz.jess

I do agree with certain points about Dostana.

However, I don't doubt Karan's skills to make films. I think he shows lots of variety. KKHH, and K3G were brilliant films. I think we need more movies based on family like them. KANK, was a bit off, but can someone tell me why movies like Kal ho na ho, would be considered candy floss? =/

anyways, I think he will do justice w/ MNIK, and btw you mentioned in your post about Kareena doing a bashan, but last i checked she's not even in the movie.

moving on, your post was really well written, and I completely agree with some of the dostana views. I

But i do admit enjoying watching the movie, it was funny in certain parts and entertaining in general. I won't deny that.

Kal Ho Na Ho is probably the least nauseating out of all of K-Jo's ventures (well, that and KKHH). Candy floss? How about pretentious, self-righteous, and super-egoed? 😛 The underlying message of the film is beautiful, almost inspirational, but the conventional Bollywood formula turns it into a meaningless pulp.

Originally posted by: ishika_kapoor

that is tru
but its comedy so RELAX
nothing wrong ok
its like the 21 century things gotta change
personally i still am against gay people but i dnt think he mocked them
i mean how else would you potray them??
they are apparently not normal

Dude, did you even think before you typed this out? 🤢

Originally posted by: fizzles

If they want to learn how to make a film based on such a topic, Rendition is the film. It was hard-hitting, to the point and asked some very tough questions. IMO that film was brilliant, such a shame the masses didn't see it that way. But as you mentioned, it's not about glamour or the big stars. The script needs to be realistic and the characters need to have depth. Anyone can make a film on terrorism. But in order to make one closer to life, you need cannot see things as black and white and need to look at the bigger picture.

Rendition? I haven't heard of it. 😲 Details?

Originally posted by: roxthefox

Thank you for your input. Needless to say, I highly disagree with your post, with points I've already stated throughout the thread.

As far as I know, Dostana was K-Jo's idea, and it was marketed, as Huma said, as if K-Jo was the Messiah and a voice for the gay community.

With regards to KANK, there's nothing to 'get' about the film. Great subject matter, but K-Jo turned it into tripe (again, for reasons I've stated through out my posts).

why is karan johar still allowed to make films? because unfortunately people do watch his films and however unimaginable it may sound they actually like his movies!! 🤔 i have no idea how unbearable shams like kkhh, k3g and kank have been recieved so well by the audience... the man hasnt made even one decent movie... kkhh was silly and immature... k3g was preachy and filled with terrible acting... and kank had badly written characters...

Roxy, I completely agree that if KJo really wants Indians to accept homosexuality in the society then may be he should have taken a step forward of breaking the stereotypical mould that one holds for homosexuals, rather than promoting it further and even stooping to the level of mocking them.

In regards to KANK, yes I totally agree that the presentation was flawed to the level of presenting the idea of infedility to look very casual. His execution made the protagonists of the movie look very weak in terms of what they were actually looking for in their partner or a marriage. His idea was good, trying to show both the characters stuck in a marriage of convenience due to varied reasons. But where he failed was that he lacked the ability to show the depth of inner turmoil that the two protagonists were undergoing before even thinking about an affair. But I completely concur with your points on KANK, he could not manage to portray the reasons his characters opted for an affair instead of working on their respective marraiges. I know he was trying to show a different side to why some people opt for extra-marital affairs, but he failed miserably to make the conservative society understand the reasoning, hence many outright rejected the concept as they were not able to fathom a girl leaving such a wonderful, perfect (too perfect may I add) hubby behind for someone like SRK's character.

I don't think even think he did full justice to his handling of Abhi and Preity's character. There was no depth to either of the characters, and the worst character was the sleazy father in the name of sexy Sam. Erghhh.. I absolutely hated the climax, it turned out to be an anti-climax, it had such poor and filmy cliched execution, I actually started laughing in the cinema, pretty loudly I should say. It was highly embarassing if I may add, coz people actually started staring at me. 😆 I guess the only reason I like KANK was coz of its unconventional subject, or else the movie was very badly made.

As a film maker he still has a long way to go before he could or should attempt unconventional subjects, such as terrorism, affairs and homosexuality. If he is unable to get out of the glossy, grandeur representations, then may be should refrain himself from attempting subjects that need great care and mature handling. I am not undermining his capibilities, but he seriously needs to come out the misconception that he has about NRIs (his target market) only appreciating gloss and glamour. Dude the NRIs dont go to watch your film coz of the concept or you, they go coz of SRK.😆 Jokes apart, but he needs to stop treating NRIs as some dimwits who only watch movies for Manish Malhotra garbage or singing and dancing, we appreciate good not half baked cinema. He has the best of actors to his dispense, he needs to start utilising them properly; he has SRK who is capable of delivering a power packed performance. One needs to just watch Kabhi ha kabhi na, Darr, Raju ban gaya.., and more recent Swades and Chak de..to see what a fine actor he can be if one is able to hone him in the right manner.

So KJo get out your green kuppa koffee and have a Koffee with Karan😉