Karan Johar has always been unabashedly himself. He has never shied away from revealing the trials and tribulations he has had to go through. The popular filmmaker, whether it was through his book 'An Unsuitable Boy" or through various interactions, has always tried to propagate the idea of accepting oneself the way one is. Very recently, he opened up about how he was shamed and mocked for his body, the way he walked, and his voice during his childhood and youth. He mentioned that it was during this time that his parents, late Yash Johar and Hiroo Johar, turned out to be his 'safe space' and that his father would always urge him to dance the way he wanted to and had suggested that he become an actor.
In an interview with Raj Shamani for his podcast, Karan admitted that he had enrolled himself for a class that would help him bring about change in his voice. He said that it was his teachers in the class who, this one time, after a session, had pulled him out and told him that he would have to face a lot of troubles in society because of his voice. They also asked him to work on bringing a baritone to his voice.
Karan said, "But I always combated the world and what they thought of me. I remember I went to a public speaking class. There, those who were teaching me, they stopped me after class and told, 'Duniya mein samaaj mein aapko bahut problem hoga kyuki aapki jo awaaz hai woh ladkiyon jaisi hai. Usme aap baritone laao. Uske liye hum aapko voice exercises denge' (You will have a lot of problems in society because your voice is like that of a girl. You should get a baritone for it. We will give you voice exercises for that.)"
The filmmaker very openly admitted that he, in fact, followed the suggestion that he had received and went to vocal classes. He did that for a while to change his voice, but in the process, he could never admit to his father the real truth about the classes and had to lie about it. He revealed that these classes not only tutored him on his voice but were also trying to teach him to be more masculine.
Johar mentioned, "Toh do saal tak main gaya woh class karne taaki main apne awaaz mein baritone lein aaun (So I went to those classes for two years to get a baritone voice) to sound like a man. I did the classes for two to three years. I told my father that I was doing computer classes because I was very shy to tell him, I'm going to do this. I was feeling ashamed. After three years, I had a baritone voice."
He further added, "Not only did they teach me baritone, they also taught me how to walk, how to become more masculine. Today main kabhi yeh advice kisi ko na doon (I will never give this advice to anyone). I'll say, 'Be yourself. If you are walking a certain way, do that. If you are talking like this, then continue. Don't change yourself for anyone."
In terms of work, the last film Karan directed was 'Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani', which was released in 2023. The film starred Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra in pivotal roles.
