Karan Johar on L'Officiel must see

After its fifth year celebrations, L'Officiel managed another coup: An exclusive cover and fashion spread with Karan Johar. Shot in Karan's favourite city, New York, and styled in Lacoste's Autumn-Winter collection, the cover story reveals another side of the multi-talented filmmaker.

Editor-in-Chief Superna R. Motwane initially sat down with Karan to discover more about the media-friendly celebrity, something that would help understand the man he is today, but the conversation over coffee that evening deviated from the set questions, revealing a story, a journey of an overweight child who nobody wanted to play with to a successful albeit lonely man who the entire world wants to be friends with. This is Karan Johar as you may have never seen him before.

On the experience of his first serious fashion shoot:
"The shoot took me back about 25 years in my head, to an obnoxiously fat child, who never wanted to leave his house because he felt that wherever he went people would stare at him because he was fat. I don't think people were as obsessed with my weight as much as I was in my head. The fact that I've been standing there with a make-up van and clothes…it was all very strange, but wonderful…. It's something I'll always remember."

On choosing New York for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna:
"In the case of Kabhi Alvida, I needed for the affair to happen in a foreign land, because in India you can't just have an affair. You'll always be spotted by some relative. You can't meet in Barista for an affair, but you can meet at a Starbucks, because no one will see you at some discreet Starbucks in New York. I'm not promoting New York as a land for infidelity. I'm just saying that for my story, New York worked."

On not taking sides in controversies:
"I never get into couple's and I basically never get into two people's problems. I never take sides because at the end of the day that's not what I believe in. Sometimes just sitting on the fence is better. Because when you take a side there's no guarantee that the two people who are fighting are not going to get together eventually, and they'll just dump you. I stay away. It's worked for me."

On being lonely:
"I like the trappings of my loneliness. The perks I get. I'm someone who lives by the minute. I could wake up one minute and say I want to travel tonight. And I feel I should be answerable only to my parents, now to my mother. I don't want the burden of being answerable to anyone but myself."

On Koffee with Karan:
"My show reflects my vibe, which is 'hate me, love me, but please don't ignore me.' I just hope that people get it. When I'm asking people about affairs, enmities, etc, it's really just going with the vibe. You could call it frivolous, I call it fun. You could call it creating problems and I could call it clearing the air."

On his style:
"My style always changes from season to season. I like to pick up things that I know will look good on me. And yes, I'm a shopaholic. I love shopping for clothes. It's the only indulgence I have. I'm not into watches, cars, gadgets or gizmos. I have no favourite designers because I don't like to shop in one place. I like to have a combination of things. I'll find something to buy anywhere."