Karan Johar reveals how he fell in love with Shah Rukh Khan

Filmmaker Karan Johar has been creating a stir through his autobiography, An Unsuitable Boy. Over the last week or so, he has been constantly in the news for some controversial excerpts from his book, which have been making rounds in the news.

Last evening, during the official launch of the book, Johar himself narrated many surprising and unusual incidents from his book. His big, indirect revelation was his sexual orientation. In a country like India, where homosexuality is still considered taboo, he has gone through a lot of bullying and mental harassment. 

Johar revealed that people have said some gross things to him related to his sexuality. Shobha De, the host, recalled one such bizarre incident at the airport when a man walked up to him and asked, “Are you a homo?” to which Johar replied, “Why? Are you interested?” 

Johar elaborated it. “I think it was an exceptionally inappropriate thing. And the wife was clicking a photograph of mine while he was asking me this question. And he asked me patting me on my back. It was an over-familiar pat, like as if we had dinner last night and he decided to ask me this question early in the morning.”

Johar’s close equation with Shah Rukh Khan is well-known. During the course of the discussion, he recalled his very first meeting with the superstar and why he fell in love with him. “The fact that he respected my father so much and the fact that he showed that respect meant the world to me. Because up to that point I felt my father had not had the best run at the movies, even with certain people with relationships. When I saw Shah Rukh give him that love, I think I fell in love with him that moment,” he said. 

Khan too shared his affection for Johar. “The best conversations I have had in my life, late at night. In New York or here, late at night when I am alone, I just call up Karan and talk. I am complex and damaged. But I realised that the only person apart from my family now who can give me the space or figure out how I am feeling has been only Karan. He can make out, ‘Bhai is angry, bhai is sad, can’t say this to bhai.’ And it’s not just me. I have seen him being sensitive to everybody around.” 

He concluded it with, “To me, Karan Johar will always be the most beautiful boy that I have ever seen in my life.” 

Another big surprise of the evening was Johar’s firm eagerness to be a parent. He said he realised this nurturing quality when he launched Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra in Student Of The Year (2012). 

“The emotion comes from a very strong paternal space. I feel like I would like to take that forward. I don’t know what I am going to do about it. But I feel I would like to be a parent,” he said.