Karan Johar is one of the few directors who can satisfy both the single screen and multiplex audiences. Even his critics will agree with the fact that he influences popular culture. His films sets fashion trends and he himself can make people spill beans over a cup of coffee. Here's a retrospective into the films directed by him before Ae Dil Hai Mushkil hit the theaters this Friday. Read on.
KUCH KUCH HOTA HAIN (1998):
I still remember that wonderful sunny day. It was the day after the final exam of the third standard was over. My mom along with our adjoining neighbours had decided to go for our annual movie outing. And the movie they chose to watch was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH). It was an easy choice. The songs were already ruling the charts and the general buzz among the people was immensely positive. So we went and someone booked the tickets (Balcony, Rs12/-, ah those were the days). The venue was Surya Cinema in my hometown of Lakhimpur. I used to the love the decoration of the interiors, especially the lights with flowery designs on the ceiling. All of us took our respective seats and waited for the lights to go off. Our wait was accompanied by the instrumental versions of the songs from the film we were about to see. The lights dimmed and the movie started and I fell in love with cinema for the first time in my life. They movie delivered exactly what it promised. I laughed, cried and fell in love with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. It would go on to have such an impact in my life that every movie that I would watch since then I would compare it to KKHH. For the next few days and months to come all I that would talk with my friends and the neighbourhood children is about which scene in the film made you cry the most, who was better Kajol or Rani Mukherjee and also strangely about the 'no shorts skirts in college' scene. Somewhere between all the colorful clothes and lovely songs KKHH also gave me a faint idea about what love and heartbreak really means. Over the years I have watched the movie at least once a year and every time my love for it keeps on increasing.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: The rain dance in the second half of the movie. Kajol looked like a dream in the red saree. The most romantic scene of all time, no doubt about that.
KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM (2001):
I never got he opportunity to watch it in a theatre. In fact I remember very well I forced one of my friends to rent the DVD of the film to watch it in his home as my father won't buy a DVD player for reasons known only to him. To put it in a straight way, K3G never had the same impact as KKHH on me. And as later I would come to know nobody liked it as much as Karan Johar's first film. Karan of course did his best to recreate the magic of his first film. The casting of the same lead pair SRK and Kajol, and Rani Mukherjee was forcefully thrown into the story line although her part was totally unnecessary. Jatin-Lalit even included the tune of Kuch Kuch Hota in the Suraj Hua Madham song but alas history didn't repeat itself. The film in isolation is not at all bad. It was one of the highest grossers of the year. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan were wonderful in the role of the parents. The music was a super hit. Hrithik Roshan nad Kareena Kapoor only added to the glamour of the film. Overseas, it made some sort of records in terms of box office collections.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: When Kareena Kapoor sees Hrithik for the first time but Hrithik ignores her and she says 'Wo kaun hain jisne Poo ko doobara mur ke nahin dekha'. Pure gold.
KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA (2006):
Yet another Kjo film that I had to watch on DVD. The film had a very international look and also the treatment was different from his earlier two films. The characters were not just NRIs living in the US but it felt like they were insiders. Karan Johar decided to explore the grey side of relationships by dealing with the topic of infidelity. Superlative performances by each and every actor only made the film more realistic and made you empathize with the characters even if they are flawed. As always the music was fantastic. The song Mitwa ushered in the era of Sufi rock. Preity Zinta's costumes were a rage among the youngsters. As a director this film was Karan Johar's coming of age.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: When Rani Mukherjee dresses up as a blindfolded dominatrix to spice up her relationship with her husband played by Abhisek Bachchan.
MY NAME IS KHAN (2010):
After KKHH, this is my favourite film of Karan. It has intensity, unfiltered emotion and a certain amount of innocence which make it impossible for you to disengage with the protagonist's pain and catharsis. Also it deals with such a relevant topic of today's time. Cynics pointed out that the it is heavily inspired by Forrest Gump but this film really made a difference in people's lives. SRK was absolutely flawless as an autistic man with a mission. How can anyone forget 'My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist'? Karan won his second best director award at the Filmfare awards for the film. Salman Khan was a huge favourite to win the top acting honour for Dabbang but SRK beat him in the race and honestly I wasn't surprised.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT:
Tough to choose one but I will go with the scene where Kajol blames SRK for the death of her son.
STUDENT OF THE YEAR (2012): It was heady cocktail of Disney channel, Fashion TV and Star Plus. It was the perfect launch vehicle for the three newcomers Alia, Sid and Varun and look where they are today. It's a purely commercial movie and it pretended to be nothing more than that. Karan can make even they ordinary turn into extraordinary with his touch. Fact in case the idea to give a new lease of life to the cult song 'Disco Deewane' worked wonders for the film. Rishi Kapoor as a gay principal was comfortable in his skin and Ram Kapoor as the menacing father was one of the plus points of the film. Boman Irani's son Kayoze Irani also made an impressive debut with SOTY.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: Of course the climax scene where Sid deliberately loses to make Varun win.
BOMBAY TALKIES (2013): Probably for the first time in his career Karan got a chance to make a film on a subject he really wanted to make without having to worry about the commercial aspects. And it clearly showed in the final product. Made as a part of an anthology of films to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema at Cannes, Bombay Talkies proved that Karan can do away with the trappings of a commercial film when required and make a no holds barred film. Infidelity, homosexuality and self identity were the themes and the emotions were not restrained. It also featured a not so famous kissing scene between Randip Hooda and Saqib Saleem, which was first of sorts in mainstream Indian cinema.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: Rani Mukherjee, Rani Muhkerjee and Rani Mukherjee.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is Karan Johar's seventh directorial venture. The buzz is strong and thanks to an unwanted controversy, it is all set to rock the box office. The film releases on October 28 and of course I will put up a review of the film. Till then take care.
KUCH KUCH HOTA HAIN (1998):
I still remember that wonderful sunny day. It was the day after the final exam of the third standard was over. My mom along with our adjoining neighbours had decided to go for our annual movie outing. And the movie they chose to watch was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH). It was an easy choice. The songs were already ruling the charts and the general buzz among the people was immensely positive. So we went and someone booked the tickets (Balcony, Rs12/-, ah those were the days). The venue was Surya Cinema in my hometown of Lakhimpur. I used to the love the decoration of the interiors, especially the lights with flowery designs on the ceiling. All of us took our respective seats and waited for the lights to go off. Our wait was accompanied by the instrumental versions of the songs from the film we were about to see. The lights dimmed and the movie started and I fell in love with cinema for the first time in my life. They movie delivered exactly what it promised. I laughed, cried and fell in love with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. It would go on to have such an impact in my life that every movie that I would watch since then I would compare it to KKHH. For the next few days and months to come all I that would talk with my friends and the neighbourhood children is about which scene in the film made you cry the most, who was better Kajol or Rani Mukherjee and also strangely about the 'no shorts skirts in college' scene. Somewhere between all the colorful clothes and lovely songs KKHH also gave me a faint idea about what love and heartbreak really means. Over the years I have watched the movie at least once a year and every time my love for it keeps on increasing.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: The rain dance in the second half of the movie. Kajol looked like a dream in the red saree. The most romantic scene of all time, no doubt about that.
KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM (2001):
I never got he opportunity to watch it in a theatre. In fact I remember very well I forced one of my friends to rent the DVD of the film to watch it in his home as my father won't buy a DVD player for reasons known only to him. To put it in a straight way, K3G never had the same impact as KKHH on me. And as later I would come to know nobody liked it as much as Karan Johar's first film. Karan of course did his best to recreate the magic of his first film. The casting of the same lead pair SRK and Kajol, and Rani Mukherjee was forcefully thrown into the story line although her part was totally unnecessary. Jatin-Lalit even included the tune of Kuch Kuch Hota in the Suraj Hua Madham song but alas history didn't repeat itself. The film in isolation is not at all bad. It was one of the highest grossers of the year. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan were wonderful in the role of the parents. The music was a super hit. Hrithik Roshan nad Kareena Kapoor only added to the glamour of the film. Overseas, it made some sort of records in terms of box office collections.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: When Kareena Kapoor sees Hrithik for the first time but Hrithik ignores her and she says 'Wo kaun hain jisne Poo ko doobara mur ke nahin dekha'. Pure gold.
KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA (2006):
Yet another Kjo film that I had to watch on DVD. The film had a very international look and also the treatment was different from his earlier two films. The characters were not just NRIs living in the US but it felt like they were insiders. Karan Johar decided to explore the grey side of relationships by dealing with the topic of infidelity. Superlative performances by each and every actor only made the film more realistic and made you empathize with the characters even if they are flawed. As always the music was fantastic. The song Mitwa ushered in the era of Sufi rock. Preity Zinta's costumes were a rage among the youngsters. As a director this film was Karan Johar's coming of age.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: When Rani Mukherjee dresses up as a blindfolded dominatrix to spice up her relationship with her husband played by Abhisek Bachchan.
MY NAME IS KHAN (2010):
After KKHH, this is my favourite film of Karan. It has intensity, unfiltered emotion and a certain amount of innocence which make it impossible for you to disengage with the protagonist's pain and catharsis. Also it deals with such a relevant topic of today's time. Cynics pointed out that the it is heavily inspired by Forrest Gump but this film really made a difference in people's lives. SRK was absolutely flawless as an autistic man with a mission. How can anyone forget 'My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist'? Karan won his second best director award at the Filmfare awards for the film. Salman Khan was a huge favourite to win the top acting honour for Dabbang but SRK beat him in the race and honestly I wasn't surprised.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT:
Tough to choose one but I will go with the scene where Kajol blames SRK for the death of her son.
STUDENT OF THE YEAR (2012): It was heady cocktail of Disney channel, Fashion TV and Star Plus. It was the perfect launch vehicle for the three newcomers Alia, Sid and Varun and look where they are today. It's a purely commercial movie and it pretended to be nothing more than that. Karan can make even they ordinary turn into extraordinary with his touch. Fact in case the idea to give a new lease of life to the cult song 'Disco Deewane' worked wonders for the film. Rishi Kapoor as a gay principal was comfortable in his skin and Ram Kapoor as the menacing father was one of the plus points of the film. Boman Irani's son Kayoze Irani also made an impressive debut with SOTY.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: Of course the climax scene where Sid deliberately loses to make Varun win.
BOMBAY TALKIES (2013): Probably for the first time in his career Karan got a chance to make a film on a subject he really wanted to make without having to worry about the commercial aspects. And it clearly showed in the final product. Made as a part of an anthology of films to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema at Cannes, Bombay Talkies proved that Karan can do away with the trappings of a commercial film when required and make a no holds barred film. Infidelity, homosexuality and self identity were the themes and the emotions were not restrained. It also featured a not so famous kissing scene between Randip Hooda and Saqib Saleem, which was first of sorts in mainstream Indian cinema.
MY FAVOURITE MOMENT: Rani Mukherjee, Rani Muhkerjee and Rani Mukherjee.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is Karan Johar's seventh directorial venture. The buzz is strong and thanks to an unwanted controversy, it is all set to rock the box office. The film releases on October 28 and of course I will put up a review of the film. Till then take care.
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