I want Koffee with Sallu-Aamir

By Subhash K Jha

The Koffee With Karan Season is almost over.

Says Karan, "I enjoyed doing Koffee With Karan. But there were only an X amount of guests I could call on the show. We still have to telecast episodes with Shah Rukh Khan- Deepika Padukone- Farah Khan.

Shah Rukh –Farah are hugely entertaining and this would be Deepika's premiere appearance on television. Then we have the Partner girls Lara and Katrina, and then we have Javed, Shabana and Farhan Akhtar."

Trust Karan to bring out another side of his side guests. "Javed-Shabana are light and casual on my show, not cerebral as you'd expect them to be. Javed Saab has never been on the show before. As for Himesh Reshammiya, I found him realistic and modest and honest. He came alone, and he held his own.

He mentioned his wife and son for the first time. He's a surprising success story. I somewhere had the confidence that he'd open up. And I was right. I knew he'd be on a roll once the camera rolled."

One selected guest who never showed up was Ram Gopal Varma.

Shrugs Karan, "He was busy with Sarkar 2 and his version of Sholay. So I never really followed him up."

Guests Karan would've loved to get on his show? "Undoubtedly Salman and Aamir. I regret not getting them on Koffee With Karan. I've great regard for them as people and as individuals.

I'd have loved to discuss cinema with Aamir. And Salman is hugely entertaining on television. Wasn't he fantastic on KBC? I'd like to interact with them as not just a talk-show host but also a filmmaker."

The show was about the comfort level Karan shared with his guests. "I didn't want the celebrities to give me quotable quotes. I wanted them to be comfortable on my show. And that comfort showed."

Karan's criteria for the guests was…news-makers whom audiences wanted to see and hear. "For instance Rakhi Sawant was great copy. I needed people who could talk. Celebrities no matter how big, who were monosyllabic just didn't qualify."

Sighs Karan, "I've done 52 episodes. Koffee With Karan is a great format. I'll re-visit it after a few years. Let people miss it. Didn't people miss KBC? In its own small way Koffee made a dent. Yes it has its audience.

"Now people can watch me on NDTV where I'm part of the entertainment section which Samir Nair helms. We do a lot of brainstorming. He's the brain and I storm in and out of their office. He understand the small-screen medium much better than me."