'It has been a fantastic year'

Film-maker Karan Johar, who has been a part of Bollywood for 18 years, is all for corporatisation of the industry and believes that the positive changes it has brought about are here to stay. “There has been so much change — the work ethic, the working style, the atmosphere, the system.

I think we finally have a sense of corporatisation, a sense of structure and discipline. These things have worked their way into the entertainment business and are here to stay,” Karan reflects. Having entered the industry as an assistant director, Karan made his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998.

He went on to make hit films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and ‘My Name is Khan’. His last directorial was the youthful
‘Student Of The Year’.

The 40-year-old firmly believes a film-maker’s movie reflects who he really is. “I think you make the movies which you are all about. So, if you are relevant and intelligent and creative, you manage to do all of that (in the film too),” he says.

Karan delivered three successful productions this year — Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu,
Agneepath and ‘Student of the Year’ — and he is content. “It has been a fantastic year. To have a three on three record is always a great thing.

To be successful in everything that you have ever attempted is something which we are very happy about,” he says, adding, “We feel very validated and grateful to the audience and to the people who have believed in us.”

Having launched so many young actors in the industry, Karan is deeply attached to each one of them and treats them as family. “I feel that all the first-time directors and actors who have been launched by Dharma Productions are members of the family and my kids. So, when their work comes, I feel like I have gone to a concert with my child and I hope that everyone gives them an applause,” he smiles.

Talking about his future plans, he says, “Nothing has been structured or fructified at the moment. I am on my way to make my annual trip just to kind of feel creative and go and write what I want to make next. But nothing is concrete as of now.”