Karan Johar reveals his mother ‘crumbled’ under the online hate coming his way, says he had no choice but to be ‘resilient’

Actor Kangana Ranaut has for the longest time accused Karan Johar of encouraging nepotism in Bollywood and not giving a fair chance to outsiders. She started her war of words with Karan on his celebrity chat show — Koffee With Karan — where she called him the “flagbearer of nepotism”, and she has often called him “movie mafia” in her direct and indirect attacks on social media.

About being called “movie mafia,” Karan said, “All I had to be was resilient at that time because I had to be strong for my own mom and for myself. You feel kind of naked after that has happened. Abhi toh kapde utar di hai sabne. Abhi kya chupana? Kisske ladna? (I have nothing to hide anymore) Everyone anyway has kind of stormed into your life, made assumptions. They don’t know the person I am. They just made this perception of mafia or something they keep talking about. They don’t know how a producer on a daily basis is trying to get his or her cast.”

Karan is currently enjoying the success of his new film, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, which marked his return to feature filmmaking after a gap of seven years. In addition to earning more than Rs 200 crore worldwide, the film has also received positive reviews.