Karan Johar

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Karan Johar
Born May 25, 1972 (1972-05-25) (age 36)
Mumbai, Maharastra, India
Occupation Film director, television host, actor
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Karan Johar (Hindi: करण जौहर, born May 25, 1972 in India) is the son of the late Yash Johar and a popular Indian film director, producer, and TV celebrity. He studied at the Greenlawns High School and attended H.R. College in Mumbai, India. Johar has also received a Masters degree in French, and planned to move to Paris before he became involved in films. Dharma Productions, founded by his father, is his production company.

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[edit] Biography

As a child, Johar was mainly influenced by commercial Indian cinema, and he cites Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra and Sooraj R. Barjatya as his inspirations, calling it his "cinematic upbringing."[1][2] Johar formally entered the film industry as an actor. He was seen as Raj's close friend in the blockbuster movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). He was also assistant director on this film and helped director Aditya Chopra in writing the screenplay for this film.[2] In addition, he selected Shahrukh Khan's costumes, something he continued to do for Shahrukh Khan's other movies like Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Duplicate (1998), Mohabbatein (2000), Main Hoon Na and Veer-Zaara (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007).[2]

He made his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ( Something does Happens). The film was a major box office hit and won eight Filmfare Awards in 1998 including Best Movie, Best Director and all four Best Actor awards for both leading and supporting roles. The film, abbreviated as KKHH, starred Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan.[3][2]

His second directorial effort, the multi-starrer family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was released in 2001. It was also highly successful. K3G, as the film is commonly abbreviated, went on to win five Filmfare Awards.[4]

In 2003, he produced and wrote the script for another extremely successful film Kal Ho Naa Ho, which was directed by Nikhil Advani, his assistant director from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Kal Ho Naa Ho translates to Tomorrow May Or May Not Come. The film starred Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta.[5]

In early 2005, he co-produced another movie with Shahrukh Khan, Kaal. This film was directed by Soham Shah, Johar's assistant director from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Johar did not write the script for Kaal.[6] In May 2005, after taking a four-year break from directing, he began working on his third film as a director and fourth film as writer; Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, (Never Say Goodbye).[6] It starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan and Kiron Kher. KANK, as the film is commonly abbreviated, released on August 11, 2006.[7]

Johar is also the host of a television chat show called Koffee with Karan commissioned by Star World, in which he interviews renowned celebrities from Bollywood and India's glamour world.[8] The first season of the show began in 2004 and ended in 2006. The 2nd season began to air in February 2007 and ended in August.[8]

Johar has hosted numerous film award ceremonies in India, the most recent being the Zee Cine Awards in 2006-2007. On September 30, 2006 Johar became the first Indian filmmaker to be a jury member in the Miss World competition, in Warsaw, Poland.[9]

Karan Johar was chosen as one of 250 Global Young Leaders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum 2006. In his role as a leading media personality in India, Johar has been invited to speak at some of the world's most prestigous academic institutions including the Harvard Business School of Harvard University (2008), the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (2006) and New York University (2008). He has also spoken at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi in November 2006.[10]

He will be directing his fourth movie named My Name Is Khan which will star Shahrukh Khan and Kajol[. The movie will be released in 2009. http://www.indiafm.com/movies/cast/13712/index.html]

The script for the movie has been kept under - wraps, but some sources reveal it will be about a Muslim guy (Shahrukh Khan) living in New York, with his wife (Kajol) during the 9/11 attacks.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Writer

[edit] Director

[edit] Producer

[edit] Actor

[edit] Numerology

All movies written by Karan Johar (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna), start with 'K' and consist of four words which are shortened to four letters. It is said that this is done for luck and success; many Bollywood celebrities put some credence in numerology. But in November 2007 Karan has planned to rid himself from this fixation, thanks to the influence of Shahrukh Khan. He is planning to consider making movies with a title starting with different letters than "K" [11] This is now confirmed with the making of "My Name is Khan"

[edit] References

  1. ^ V S Srinivasan (October 15, 1998). 'I'm a little scared'. Rediff.Com. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.
  2. ^ a b c d Nandy, Pritish (December 9, 1998). 'All the women I meet keep telling me how much they cried in the film! That's what made it a hit, I guess.'. Rediff.Com. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.
  3. ^ Box Office 1998. BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  4. ^ Box Office 2001. BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  5. ^ Box Office 2003. BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  6. ^ a b K Jha, Subhash (May 3, 2005). 'I've got Veer-Zaara and Bunty-Babli in my film'. Rediff.Com. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.
  7. ^ Box Office 2006. BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  8. ^ a b Star World's Koffee With Karan
  9. ^ Karan Johar to judge Miss World 2007. The Indian Express.
  10. ^ Ash among WEF's Global Young Leaders. 17 January , 2007. Sify.
  11. ^ Karan gives up his fixation for "K"

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films by Karan Johar
Film directed
Films produced
Duplicate  (1998) • Kuch Kuch Hota Hai  (1998) • Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham  (2001) • Kal Ho Naa Ho  (2003) • Kaal  (2005) • Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna  (2006) • My Name is Khan  (2009)