Indian director Karan Johar talks about why he doesn’t make Hollywood movies

Indian film director and TV personality Karan Johar became the first Indian director to win this award. variety The Vanguard Award recognizes industry leaders who have made significant contributions to the global entertainment business. Saturday, varietyTatyana Siegel, executive editor of film and media for “Dzhokhar,” presented the award to Dzhokhar at the 3rd Red Sea Film Festival, and a career-long conversation ensued.

The director, producer and TV host returned after a seven-year hiatus from directing with the hugely successful ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani’. According to the filmmaker, the reason for the hiatus was due to the fact that he is the head of the production company Dharma Productions and the host of ‘Koffee With Karan’, one of India’s longest running and most popular talk shows. This is said to be due to his busy schedule.

“Being the head of a studio, you have a lot of responsibility, and I wanted to direct more often. My number one passion is being a director,” he said. “When I go to bed at night, I think about the story, but not about the conversations I had on a talk show. I want to be remembered as a filmmaker.”

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Johar’s debut feature film ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. When asked about how much the entertainment industry has changed since then, the filmmaker highlighted the changes brought about by the digital revolution, calling it “heartbreaking.” “The magic[of printing]is very different than what digital film gives you, but you learn to embrace that,” he said.

“More than anything, I feel like there is a huge loss of innocence,” he continued. “When I made my first film, a lot of it came out of innocence. Now you feel more scrutinized by social media and critics, and you don’t intellectualize your beliefs. That’s a negative aspect for the growth of movies.”

Dzhokhar positively points out that there are directors such as George Lucas, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg who have turned technology into an art form. The latter, Dzhokhar said, “combines technology and emotion in probably the most organic and beautiful way.” He also reiterated that “something special is happening all over the world,” and particularly praised Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” and SS Rajamouli’s “RRR.”

Johar, the son of Yash Johar, a prominent Indian producer and founder of Dharma Productions, is no stranger to the nepotism debate. The director quipped that while nepotism has become a hot topic in recent years, Hollywood used to lag behind the Indian film industry. “We were in the lead in this one,” he said, defending his choice to cast Alia Bhatt in the breakout role of 2012’s “Student of the Year.”

Bhatt, the daughter of director Mahesh Bhatt and actor Soni Razdan, went on to collaborate with Johar in several other films. “When I first saw Aria’s audition, I had a gut feeling,” the director said. “She’s my firstborn in many ways, because that feeling is very parental. When she walked into the room, it didn’t matter who the father was, it just jumped out. Years later, people think it’s because of nepotism, but that’s unfortunate and not true.”

After establishing himself as a celebrity in India, did Johar ever think of going across the ocean to Hollywood? To answer the question, the director mentioned the aftermath of the success of 2010’s My Name Is Khan. The film was financed by Fox’s Star Studios at the time and released internationally by 20th Century Fox, following the worldwide success of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Johar spent two years in Los Angeles. I went back and forth.

“I had to travel to Los Angeles a few times before I realized that everything is great and there are so many meetings, but my heart is in my country and my movies are in my heart. ” he said. “I don’t want to leave that behind. I don’t want to make films without the language that raised me.”

“It is an accomplishment to receive this award today,” he said. variety Winner of the Vanguard Award. “You don’t have to make an English film to win an award. It would be great to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards, but I would love to do it alongside a Hindi film.”

Still, the director admits he has one Hollywood-related dream. It’s about meeting Meryl Streep. In addition to a brief handshake and photo shoot, Dzhokhar hopes to have dinner with the Oscar-winning actor. “That’s the only item on my bucket list. If I could spend an hour with her, I might die and go to heaven.”

He added, “Her ability to influence any era is so admirable. Relevance means you have to evolve with the times, and she understands this more than any other artist. There are a few artists who do that, and I think she’s one of them.”

Returning to the topic of homeland, Johar concluded his talk by saying that the most common misconception that foreign audiences have about Indian films is that “we are all about song and dance.”

“That misconception has held us back for years,” he says. “Yes, we make song and dance films and we are proud of that, but we also want to make beautiful, audience-watched films made in so many languages ​​and in so many parts of India. There are stories we want to tell, and we’re grateful that streaming services have brought them to the world.”

“The world needs to wake up to Indian stories and storytelling,” the director urged.