Producer-Director Karan Johar’s highly ambitious film Brahmastra is set for release on September 9, 2022. Ahead of the release of one of the most anticipated films from his production house, Karan Johar has ‘urged’ the public not to divide Indian cinema into sub-categories and instead start treating it as one industry.
Speaking at a press event to promote Brahmastra in Hyderabad, the filmmaker said, “We, in our own tiny way, are trying to reach every corner (of the country with our film). Like SS Rajamouli sir said, this is Indian cinema. Let’s not call it anything else. We keep giving it a wood… Bollywood, Tollywood. We are not in the woods anymore, we are out of them. We are proudly part of Indian cinema. Each and every film will be now from Indian cinema.”
Interestingly, Johar’s ‘humble’ request came at a time when his yet-to-be-released movie, starring Bollywood biggies like Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and even Shah Rukh Khan as guest appearance, and others, has been facing boycott calls. In fact, the Dharma Productions film has been the butt of jokes, ever since the release of its trailer.
Karan Johar, who is considered to be extremely arrogant in Bollywood circles, had recently reacted to the boycott call for his movie by calling the “Boycott gang” a “group of trolls”. He had arrogantly asked people not to watch the film if they didn’t wish to.
A video of Karan Johar engaging with the media personnel had gone viral on social media, wherein, when asked about the current boycott trend, he said that the “Boycott gang is a group of trolls and I don’t take them seriously. I don’t care if they don’t watch my film. I am not forcing them to watch my films.”
Karan Johar’s Brahmastra faces boycott calls
However, his movie Brahmastra came under attack even prior to his statement, after its lead actress Alia Bhatt also told people that they were under no compulsion to watch her movie. Besides, a video of actor Ranbir Kapoor, who is playing the protagonist in the movie, surfaced where he said he was a beef-eating foodie. This too attracted a lot of criticism. To add fuel to the fire, the Hinduphobic tweets of Dharma Productions’ Development Executive Shreemi Verma also went viral on social media.
With the screenshots of her anti-Hindu tweets, netizens started to post on Twitter that she is associated with Dharma Productions, and linked to the upcoming movie Brahmastra. Netizens called for a boycott of the movie for its association with such a Hinduphobic person. She eventually deactivated her account to control the backlash of her remarks.
Karan Johar and his tantrums
Karan Johar is no stranger to controversies. From accusations of encouraging misogyny to plagiarism and copyright infringement, to being embroiled in a drug controversy to being dubbed as the flag-bearer of nepotism, the filmmaker has seen it all.
It may be recalled that in 2020 when the NCB turned its attention to Karan Johar in response to a complaint filed by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) President and Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sira alleging that at a party hosted by Karan Johar in 2019, drugs and other narcotic substances were consumed by the attendees, the producer-director issued a statement calling reports of drug consumption at his party ‘misleading’ and ‘wrong’. He also claimed that the spotlight on him and his production house was part of a ‘malicious campaign’.
Karan Johar, following nationwide uproar after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and immense backlash against Bollywood’s insiders, had also unfollowed many people on Twitter, including close celebrity friends and star kids, like Alia Bhatt and Twinkle Khanna.
In 2020, Karan Johar’s 2017 clip asking Kangana Ranaut to ‘leave the industry’ had also gone viral drawing sharp reactions from Netizens. The netizens reacted based on the excerpt of the interview and slammed Johar for his attitude toward an accomplished actor. They said that he does not have the right to tell anyone to leave the industry and insult them on an international platform.
The Dharma Production owner had also drawn flak when he remarked that he felt if ‘KGF 2’ was made in Bollywood, critics would have ‘lynched’ them.
Karan Johar in his autobiography, ‘An Unsuitable Boy’ wrote that as a kid he used to find Hindi speaking “downmarket and uncool”. He even mentioned that he used to stay away from Aditya Chopra and his friends because they all used to speak Hindi.
