Karan Johar, in a new interview, opened up on the criticism he received for his 2006 romantic drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.
After back-to-back hits like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Karan Johar directed Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna starring Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan in 2006.
Karan who was known for making family-oriented entertainers shook the audience with this film which dealt with the theme of adultery and dysfunctional relationships. Unlike his previous outings, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna opened to mixed response.
Recently, in an interview with Pinkvilla, Karan Johar addressed the criticism he received for this multistarrer and said that there were a couple of instances around the release of the film, which convinced him that Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna won’t received the same love as his previous flicks (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham).
The filmmaker told the publication, “It was not surprising but I was taken aback with the moral policing for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. I thought that I was speaking an unusual subject. It was about infidelity and I was also deconstructing Shah Rukh’s absolutely pure image and showing the grey side of life.”
Recalled an incident which transpired when he was at the preview screening of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna at Adlabs, KJo shared, “There was a scene where Shah Rukh and Rani check into a hotel room. So there was this lady who looks to her husband. The husband said, ‘Dream sequence chhe’ (It is a dream sequence). So, she was pacified by the fact that it is a dream sequence. And it can’t be like that and they would not step outside the boundary of their marriage. When they realised that it is not a dream sequence, they both got up, took their families and walked out. And I was like, oh my god. Reality of life; judgement hit me.”
He narrated another incident where he spotted a lady and her daughter crying in the corner when he stepped out of the screening.
“I thought she was very moved by the film. But the mother came to me and she looked to me and said, ‘Tu Karan Johar hai?’ (Are you Karan Johar) and I said, ‘Ji’ (Yes). So she said, ‘Meri beti, uska abhi abhi divorce hua hai. Aur maine bola ki mood thik karne ke liye tujhe Karan Johar ki picture dikhaungi. Aur tune yeh picture banayi hai?! Aise banate hai picture? Yeh hote hai humare sanskaar?’ (My daughter recently went through a divorce and I thought to show her a Karan Johar film to make her mood better. And you made such a film? Is this how you make a movie? Are these our manners?) and I was like, ‘scared‘,” KJo said in his interview.
He continued, “I realised that the film had done phenomenally overseas but India, it had done good business, not great business. But I realised that there was such a divided house for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. So when you said surprised, I was not surprised but I was more disappointed actually. Then I went within and realised that you know, when you make a film that hits home, whether it is Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna then or Gehraiyaan now, it will always have this polarised response. And I was just so used to getting love that polarisation threw me off.”
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna revolves around how an ex footballer and a teacher, both married to different people, find true love in each other.
