Karan Johar feels he ‘peaked at 28’ after working with Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar: ‘How can I go beyond this?’

He said, “There were kind of two times that happened to me, on separate occasions. One was when I directed Mr Bachchan for the first time. And the other was when Lata ji sang. Both of these happened on my second feature film. I was 28 years old, and I was like, man, this is my entire childhood unravelling in front of me. I was like, how can I,  how can I go beyond this? And I still don’t think I have. You know, I think I peaked. Like, this could be your peak. I think I peaked at 28.”

He further recounted the moment he heard Lata Mangeshkar record the song for his film: “Lata ji singing the title track, I was sitting at the console and just weeping. Like, I was just weeping. Because she’s my entire childhood. She really is. I’m obsessed with her.” Reflecting on his experience directing Amitabh Bachchan, Karan added, “Amit uncle is somebody like, I touch his feet when I meet him. So I’m like, I can’t believe I’m directing him. I felt sick the day I was directing him because I was so stressed. And how do you tell Amitabh Bachchan what to do? Like, you should just say, ‘Sir, just do what you do. Who am I to say?’”

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Recently, speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Karan discussed how assembling such a star-studded cast for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham would be nearly impossible in today’s landscape. “It is very difficult. The fact that you have the film of the year as War 2 with Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR headlining the project, that’s bang for the bucks. You’ve got two of the biggest stars from different film industries. It’s like beyond a wish list to anyone. That’s like wow. To bring two lead actors and actresses together in one film is just difficult today.”

Explaining why, he said, “You are fighting so many people. Firstly, actors themselves have their own strategies, ideologies, and thoughts. Then there are people advising them, they are telling them this and that.” He also highlighted the economic challenges, noting that bringing together top stars today would be financially prohibitive: “Today, firstly, the remuneration levels will go crazy, they all will be unaffordable. Everyone wants an arm and a leg, without realizing that the box office is the tough and challenging part of our existence. We need to come together to sort this situation out. We need to head towards a purple patch, and right now, the patch is far from purple.”