Manish Malhotra opens up about three-decade bond with Karan Johar: ‘Decided to go out for dinner one night…’

Manish Malhotra also addressed Karan Johar's story about their only argument, during which they had a 'pillow fight with a lehenga'.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | August 22, 2024 10:46 AM IST

3 min read

Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra have been friends for over three decades.

Fashion designer Manish Malhotra looked back on his three decades of friendship with director Karan Johar. They got to know each other when they worked together on Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, where Karan served as an assistant and Manish designed the costumes. Manish looked back fondly on their relationship, and noted the challenges of working in a professional capacity with a friend. He also addressed Karan’s story about their only professional disagreement, during which they threw lehengas at each other.

Appearing on the We Are Yuvaa YouTube channel, Manish said, “I’ll tell you how I met him. Sridevi called me for Gumrah, which was produced by Yash Johar ji, and on set was where I met Karan. And then, whenever I used to call Yash ji with questions, Karan would pick up the phone. I would just say, ‘Can I speak with Yash ji?’ One day, he just told me, ‘You never say hi’. And I said, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. Hi Karan, how are you, can I speak to Yash ji’. So it became like that. And then I met him a couple of times on set, and one night we decided to go out for dinner, and we chatted at that time. That’s how we became friends.”

Also read – Karan Johar says ex-lover who inspired Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is still ‘very much a part of my family’, but ‘isn’t from the industry’

Manish said that this was in 1993. Asked what drew him to Karan, he said, “Karan was very interested in clothes. He was very interested in what I do, designing for movies. We both loved films. That’s how we got close. And then Duplicate was being made, and I was doing Juhi Chawla’s clothes, and I remember he was interfering in the clothes. And I was like, ‘Why are you interfering in the clothes? You’re just the producer’s son’.”

Describing Karan as a ‘very warm’ person, Manish continued, “He makes the effort. Through him, I met Aditya Chopra. I’m grateful to Karan for that. Dilwale happened through him. Our relationship is honest.” Manish said that in addition to being friends, they’ve also worked together, which isn’t always easy to do. “That’s a difficult thing. For friends to work together for that many years, it’s very rare. Because Karan is Karan Johar, and not a lot of people would be comfortable telling him if something doesn’t work.”

Asked about an anecdote shared by Karan himself, when they ‘had a pillow fight with a lehenga’ during their only fight, Manish said with a laugh, “No, we didn’t throw the lehenga at each other. Not at all! He’s just exaggerating. So, basically, I took this lehenga very excitedly to his office, and he looked at it and said, ‘This I don’t like’. I was personally hurt. My face started going red. I was very upset. And I just walked out from the office. I might have banged the lehenga on the table.” This incident happened over the song “Suraj Hua Maddham,” from the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

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