Karan Johar's Media Mantra's

One of the nicest — and mutually profitable — friendships here is that of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. K Jo may be right up there in the marquee as a film-maker but he is still sporting enough to take care of Shah Rukh’s clothes, without ever feeling that he’s too big to be doing this now.

“I do clothes only for Shah Rukh, nobody else,” Karan is clear about that. “I connect with what Shah Rukh wants. I’ve done his clothes in Main Hoon Na (remember the simple but distinct sweater and scarf look?) and in Om Shanti Om. I always say Yash Uncle and Farah are two makers for whom, whenever they work with Shah Rukh, I will always do the clothes. I do Shah Rukh’s clothes in any case. I’m always shopping for him. I love doing it as a hobby.

“I loved doing the clothes of Om Shanti Om. Farah was so well-researched, she knew just what she wanted. Every time I fought with her — like I’d say, Farah, you want to give him this gold jacket for God’s sake — her answer would be, just shut up and give it, I know what my tones are. And when I saw it on screen the gold jacket looked great. Shah Rukh looked fantastic in the film. In the first half there wasn’t one wrong note. I had great fun doing it. I hope I get another job!”

One might say that today it is a privilege for anybody to do Shah Rukh’s clothes. But Karan is not ‘anybody’; he is a huge celebrity himself. One might think Karan benefits from his association with such a big star but if you really look at their friendship, I for one would say that Shah Rukh has equally gained from having Karan for a friend.

Today, especially after the blockbuster win of Om Shanti Om, a dreary charge against SRK is that he is media-savvy, like it is a gaali. Anybody who can’t get a good press (currently, Rishi Kapoor and most of the Saawariya satellites) sneer over the two words, ‘media savvy’ like it is a flaw in your personality. But the truth is, Shah Rukh was not always media-savvy. When he made his first film, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, and flopped on his face, he had got the kind of furious backlash that Sanjay Leela Bhansali got this year. Shah Rukh had no friends in the media, he had an issue with most of them (yours truly included) over laughingly trivial items, and right up to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, it was close friend Karan Johar who spoke warmly to the media on his friend’s behalf.

If Shah Rukh Khan has changed for the better you have to credit buddy Karan for the subtle influence he has had over the actor. Hear Karan’s refreshing views on the media and you’ll get an idea of where Shah Rukh has picked up some important lessons.

Says Karan, “Handling the media is really an art, that too requires a certain course.

“You cannot deny the power of the media, you cannot deny that they are a huge platform you need to be on when you have to promote your film or speak about yourself, you cannot deny that they make you the brand you are and you reap the benefits of that. I work in tandem with the media, I like to be there for them just as they have always been there for me. Yes, there are some bad apples but there are those bad apples in any industry, any profession, why just the media?

“When critics praise you, you’re happy. When they criticise you, you say they’re biased. Why can’t we accept that perhaps they just didn’t like your film? I can, even if it does hurt. If tomorrow you write against my film, I’m not going to be loving you for that second, but the next day I’ll wake up and say, ok, I must respect her opinion, I have so many of my own.

“Yes, the electronic media is in your face, the paparazzi is emerging, it’s annoying when you go to an event and you have a hundred cameras on you. But would you not want those hundred people around you? Would you like it if they ignored you and ran after someone else? No, I wouldn’t. I’m sorry to report, I’d be shattered, upset and want to break my head against the nearest wall! I like the shutterbugs when I walk the red carpet and I like the fact that they’re screaming my name for sound bytes. If they didn’t, I’d wonder what went wrong!

“We need the media,” concludes Karan. And you know just how much Shah Rukh has got from Karan when the film-maker says, “Let’s not pretend that we’re going to go out there and bash them because we sound cool at a party. We don’t.

“Media bashing is really passé!”

Thanks, pal.

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