‘There was talk that Shah Rukh Khan was arrogant’: Karan Johar recalls walking into their first meeting with preconceived notions about movie stars

Karan Johar spoke about his brotherly bond with Shah Rukh Khan, and in a new interview, remembered being charmed off his feet by the actor in their first-ever meeting.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | October 17, 2023 09:48 AM IST

3 min read

Kajol, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan on the first episode of Koffee With Karan. (Express archive photo)

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Filmmaker Karan Johar recalled his two ‘first meetings’ with Shah Rukh Khan, back when they were both taking their initial steps in the film industry. Karan said that when he first interacted with Shah Rukh on a film set, he was just tagging along with his father, and had heard some not-so-nice things about the actor. But in trademark Shah Rukh fashion, he proved all the rumours wrong and charmed Karan’s socks off almost instantly.

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Karan narrated this incident, but also recalled that the actual first time that he ‘met’ Shah Rukh was when they were both seated across from each other at filmmaker Aanand Mahendroo’s office for hours, but didn’t exchange a single word. Karan, who was only 15 at the time, didn’t even realise it was Shah Rukh sitting across from him, and was told this after the actor had left.

Also read | 25 years of Karan Johar: Shubhra Gupta interprets filmmaker’s evolution, predicts if it’s time for Karan Johar 2.0

But recalling his first real interaction with Shah Rukh, the filmmaker said, “My dad took me to the sets of Karan Arjun, because he was offering Shah Rukh Duplicate, and they were going to discuss dates and money. Kajol was there, and I remember calling her and saying, ‘I’m coming, but I don’t know anyone, but at least you’ll be there’. But by the time I reached, she was giving her shot…”

Karan continued, “Shah Rukh was wearing this bright orange Levi’s shirt. And you know how you build a perception and hear about movie stars and how they are? I had this impression that movie stars were a certain way because my father was a producer, and he’d dealt with many. With Shah Rukh, there was a lot of talk that he was kind of like arrogant… Not arrogant, but like he knew what he was doing because he comes from drama and theatre, but in one minute, I was just swept away by the magic of Shah Rukh Khan.”

Karan described that meeting as wonderful, and said that Shah Rukh was ‘charming’, ‘chatty’ and curious to know more about Karan’s life. “He looks into your eyes and speaks to you, and that is the most beautiful part about Shah Rukh,” he said, adding that he became a fan in five minutes. Karan and Shah Rukh would go on to collaborate on multiple films, such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and My Name is Khan.

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