Filmmaker Karan Johar recently discussed the commercial difficulties that the Hindi film industry is currently facing. Only three Bollywood films were successful at the box office in 2022, with south Indian films dubbed in Hindi sharing the spoils. Karan speculated that this is due to Hindi filmmakers’ lack of ‘conviction’ in comparison to south Indian directors.
In an interview with Film Companion, Karan stated that films like KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR, which have grossed over Rs 1,100 crore globally, have a clarity of vision that is lacking in Hindi films, which attempt to be too many things at once. In the same breath, he claimed that if Bollywood had made KGF 2, the film would have been a flop.
The sequel to director Prashant Neel’s gangster saga not only broke box office records (it earned more than Rs 400 crore in the Hindi belt alone), but it also received mostly positive reviews. “When I read the reviews of KGF, I feel like if we made this, we’d be lynched,” Karan said. But everyone here says, ‘Oh, it was a celebration, a party,’ and it was. It was fantastic. I adored it wholeheartedly. But I’m thinking, hum yeh banaate toh? (What if we’d made this?)”
“It works both ways,” he added. I believe we are also given little leeway and then try to be someone else. As a result, we’re all over the place. We are living a double life and must put an end to it.”
Karan Johar also stated in the interview that he now plans to direct more films in the next decade of his life, after only making two in the previous one. Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh, is his first film since Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2016.
Jugjugg Jeeyo, starring Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor, and Neetu Kapoor, is Karan’s next production venture. On June 24, the film will be released in theatres.