Karan Johar Opens Up About His One-Sided Love, Says 'I Was Pitiful, Worst Version of Myself'

With rich content driven commercial projects, Karan Johar is one of the most loved and successful filmmakers of Indian cinema. Time and again, he has given movies for generations to rewatch and revisit. While he is

basking in the success of his recently released film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, he also revisted his 2019 film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Karan opened up about the movie coming from a personal space and also revealed that the person the film is about, is still very much a part of his family but not from the industry.

In an interview with Mid-Day, Karan was asked if that person has ever watched Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, he shared, “It was initially awkward because his character dies. The character obviously went through a fictional arc as well, but it was cathartic for me to tell that story, because I felt that really helped me get over that love situation.”

He further added, “Anyone who has been through one-sided love, ektarfa pyaar, that heartbreak… I saw the worst version of myself, not as a human being, but I was pitiful in that zone. When you stare at your phone waiting for it to ring, when you want that message and that message changes your day, when your heart really hurts – it’s a physical pain, it’s not just symbolic, it’s painful – and you wake up with that anxiety, and when you see that person with somebody else and it breaks you into a million pieces… You realise that love can make you and break you and tear you apart.”

Karan also shared that while the movie garnered mixed reviews, the film resonated a lot with the GenZ. “I feel it strongly with the generation of today, who really take their love seriously. We call it the Tinder generation, the swipe right-swipe left generation, but people are really falling in love. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil had a polarising last act, but that concept of crazy love really resonated especially with Gen Z kids. I’m far from Gen Z, I found this crazy love in my late 30s and early 40s, and it just went on for years. But it gave me a film, it gave me closure, and it has now given me a lot of perspective of never to go back in that zone again,” he shared.

When asked how the person took Karan’s feelings or if they were being ‘hot and cold’, Karan added, “The person was completely sensitive to me, and went through every beat with me with utmost sensitivity. So, I can’t even hate, I can’t be indifferent. And today, that person is very much a part of my family, he’s a part of my ecosystem… Fortunately, this person is not from the industry, and that actually helped, because it gets very messy when it’s from the industry.”

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani marked Karan’s directorial comeback almost after 6 years since Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Both the films are box office hits.