Ahead Of 2.0, Karan Johar’s Mantra Behind Films Proves Why He’s Bollywood’s Best Mind

Karan Johar explained why dubbed versions of Telugu masala blockbusters have some of the highest TRPs on Indian TV, while relatively better films don't.

By: Tatsam Mukherjee |
November 22, 2018 7:15 pm

Karan Johar is one of Bollywood’s most astute minds, and his track record speaks for itself. In a decade, where several studios have shut shop in India and left for good, the family-owned production houses of Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra remain the most prestigious. Therefore, it’s also not surprising to see him lend his name to Shankar’s 2.0.

The sequel to the 2010 magnum opus, Robot, the film features Rajinikanth reprising his role as Chitti. And in a case of ambitious casting sees Akshay Kumar play the antagonist. Kumar is one of Bollywood’s safest bets.

In an illuminating chat with Film Companion South, Karan Johar gave us a peek into how he takes up productions. Having lent his name earlier to SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali films, Johar spoke with tremendous insight into how films are green-lit, the disappearance of love stories, and the forgotten art of spectacles that Bollywood has embraced again.

Johar also spoke about how films gain popularity on TV. He explained how relatively good, coherent films would never get high TRPs and why the masala blockbusters would be the ones to be seen. Especially, the films dubbed from the Telugu film industries, which are a big hit on Sony.

He helped decode why the Hindi dubbed version of Baahubali (with few known faces) went on to get the universal approval of the audience in the North Indian belt.

Karan Johar gave a reality check to the ‘corporate culture’ of studios, who sent an 80-page contract to Amitabh Bachchan ahead of a film. He explained to them the ‘familial culture’ in Bollywood, for his upcoming film, Brahmastra.

Asked whether he would only stick to the big-event films or even want to get involved in the distribution of smaller, indie films from the regional languages like 2016’s Angamaly Diaries (hailed by many as the most original gangster epic to have come out of India in the past decade). Karan Johar showcased his lucidity of thought by saying this…

Johar’s math is simple – if the cheapest of films cost Rs 5 crore to make with an additional Rs 6 crore to market, then can the film do a business of Rs 20 crore? If the answer to that question is yes, then he would go ahead with the co-production. Like he did in The Lunchbox, and something Johar claims to have a ‘good instinct’ about.