Karan Johar Questions "The Gender Politics" Shown In 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hain', Here's Why He Chose To Make The Film

Karan Johar's debut movie, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, made waves at the box office. The movie even to this day continues to remain iconic and one of the most loved Bollywood movies. Back in the day, it was really unthinkable for a debutante director to achieve such a huge feat, box office number-wise. However, the film has often been called out by the public for portraying poor gender politics and for even uplifting toxic characteristics. Recently, Karan Johar spoke about the social implications of the film and if at all he was thinking about them while making the movie. 

In a conversation with Lily Singh for her podcast, Karan said he did not really care about or even consider the social impact his film could have. He mentioned that at the time, he was only concerned with giving his father, Yash Johar, a massive hit. 

He said, "I just wanted to make a very big hit. I was 24 years old when I wrote Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and as a producer's son, I grew up understanding box office business and how our country has a varied audience."

Karan got candid about how his father back in time was facing failures box office-wise, as a producer he had backed a series of films which failed to work in terms of numbers. Hence, Karan took it upon himself to help his father get a hit. He clarified that he wanted to do so only for ego and prestige reasons and for nothing else. 

The director mentioned, "My father was a very loved man, but he was also a producer who had made a series of unsuccessful films—five back-to-back failures. I just wanted to make a big, monstrous hit for my dad.. I wasn't thinking of contributing to society or to make a film that would make a difference, or a politically correct thing that would be impressionable. And I wanted to do this not for material reason but for prestige reason and my father to get his moral back."

He made it clear that he cringes sometimes while watching his directorial debut. Karan recalled how even legendary actress Shabana Azmi had called him out for portraying gender politics incorrectly. 

"When I look back at my first film, I'm very proud of all the love it has received, but I also question the gender politics, some of the dialogues, and the cringe moments. When I see them now, I think, 'What was I thinking?' I was young and new to cinema. I am allowed to make my mistakes," said Karan.

Karan also took the onus of writing a character like Rahul, whom many fans and followers consider extremely toxic. He accepted that it was his writing, but back then, he was really not thinking about anything else but delivering a blockbuster. 

He said, "That character came from me because I was writing the dialogues. He fell for the hot girl, and then when the girl he didn't like became hot, he fell in love with her. Was he just chasing surface-level good looks? That was all my writing. I didn't realize at the time that I was feeding a certain school of thought. I just wanted to make a blockbuster."

Karan Johar's 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' was released in 1998 and featured Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji in lead roles. Apart from that the film also featured iconic actors like Anupam Kher, Archana Puran Singh, Reema Lagoo, Johny Lever and Farida Jalal. The film also had some iconic cameos, the first being Salman Khan's and the second one was by Neelam Kothari Soni.