“Brainlessness” and “a lie from beginning to end” were some of the words used by critics to describe Karan Johar’s 2012 directorial Student of the Year, but the filmmaker says he has no regrets making it.
He said the movie, which gave the film industry new faces such as Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, was made to attract a teenage audience.
“I felt like teenagers didn’t know my work. So, I made Student of the Year. I wanted to make a film with good looking people, songs and glamour. I had to make cycling and swimming look good. I don’t claim to be the ambassador of reality. I had fun doing Student of the Year,” said Johar, who made his directorial debut with college-based film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998.
“I won’t regret making it. I had the best time with these three kids. I didn’t want them to be perfect. Rawness has its own appeal. The film is their weakest performance and I feel proud when people tell me that they were better in other films,” he said during a session titled “An afternoon at Film Bazaar with Rajeev Masand” on the final day of Film Bazaar at the International Film Festival of India in Goa on Monday.
He said he wants the three actors to “fly” and work with other filmmakers.
“I am not selfish. I want them to work with all the filmmakers,” he said.
Johar also told how he convinced director Imtiaz Ali to cast Bhatt in Highway.
“I told Imtiaz that Alia can act. Don’t go by my film. Just talk to her once. When she got the script, she told me that she is on every page of the script. I told her to accept it,” he said.
Johar also said his relationship with the three actors was “emotional and not just contractual”.
Other things we found out about Johar during his talk:
He can’t make films like Rajkumar Hirani:
“I’ve been pitted against everyone and I feel envious, not jealous. I am envious of Hirani. I’ve never managed to do what he does. His movies [PK, 3 Idiots, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.] have genius ideas. I don’t have the ability perhaps. I would love to make those kinds of movies. Hirani has strong screenplays. I hope I get such screenplays.”
He doesn’t look down on remakes:
“Remake is not a bad word. We loosely use the word ‘copy’, but it’s not a copy. It’s an adaptation. Adaptation is an art form. Very few filmmakers get it right and it’s mostly difficult to do,” he said. He has produced remakes such as Agneepath and We Are Family and is working on the official remakes of hit French film The Intouchables and Hollywood movie Warrior.
He won’t film in another industry
“I understand the ethos of Hindi cinema, so I produce Hindi films. I am aware of Marathi, Tamil and Punjabi films, but I don’t understand the ethos of their industries. So, I won’t get into that. I won’t produce an English film either for the same reason.”
He is open to all genres
“I want to attempt a thriller and other interesting genres, but those kinds of scripts don’t come to me. I always get multi-starrer or romantic comedy kinds.”
He’s still learning a lot
“Nikhil [Advani] taught me about the technicalities of cinema. I just knew wide, mid and close. He helped me more than that. In a way, he mentored me. The ones launched by me, they keep me young. I didn’t even know EDM (electronic dance music) or Fomo (Fear of missing out). Varun and Sidharth introduced me to those terms while doing Student of the Year,” he said.
Censorship should be the final word
“I wish censorship was the final authority. I am fighting court cases that are ridiculous. I am still fighting a case for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. I wish there was a ruling finally and with the current governance being so proactive, I hope this is one of the things they should look into and say that censorship is the final law. If it doesn’t happen, filmmakers like me will be the soft target.” Karan was reportedly accused of insulting the national anthem in 2001’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
