Interview: Karan Johar
How many layers of distinction can a film have before it is ever released? Let us count the ways.
In Indian cinema, there are several long-standing divisions into where a particular film is screened. Unlike Hollywood, where the main distinction among films is whether it is studio-backed or independent, Indian cinema distinguishes the releases of its films first on language.
The checklist goes a little something like this: what language is it? Or better yet, is the film Bollywood or some other regional production? Odds are if the film is not in Hindi or Tamil, it will probably not get much exposure. If a division along language lines is not enough, the next layer of distinction comes in the form of multiplex versus single-screen productions – a play on the Hollywood distinction of studio production versus independent film. Not to mention sheer name recognition of talent associated with the film is a common layer of distinction to be found in any film industry.
Bollywood superstar filmmaker Karan Johar scoffs at such distinctions. In a recent interview in India during the promotion of his upcoming production, Wake Up Sid, Johar said the lines and divisions are blown way out of proportion. Instead, Johar said that people should be more concerned with the message of the film instead of whether it is catered towards large metropolitan multiplexes or small-town, single-screen theaters.
“Time and again, we tend to make a generalization and divide, that so-and-so film is only for multiplexes or, for that matter, single-screen audiences,” Johar said in an interview with the media in India. “Yes, (Wake Up Sid) is about the angst of urban youngsters, is reflective of their lifestyle and, of course, comes with associated demography perspective as well.”
In producing a film which urban youth may relate to, Johar also worked with film director Ayan Mukherjee to focus on elements of Indian culture, such as the relationships youths have with their parents and extended family, in order to expand the audience to older-aged moviegoers. To that effect, Johar and Mukherjee made an effort for Wake up Sid to focus as much on the travails of parents as the plight of urban youth.
“The film also talks about the kind of dilemma that parents go through,” Johar told the media. “They have a son at home who is almost grown up and neither can they take all decisions on his behalf nor can they allow him to be let loose. This brings in quite a lot of emotional energy in the narrative of Wake Up Sid, as both sides of the stories are heard.”
In presenting both sides of the story, Johar told the media he was hands-off of this movie, letting his debutant director in Mukherjee maintain full reign at the controls.
“There isn’t any Karan Johar element that you would see in Wake Up Sid,” the producer told the Indo-American News Service. “It doesn’t have any gloss, glamour or grandeur that one associates with me. In fact, it doesn’t have any prerequisite that one expects from Dharma Productions.”
Johar added he envisioned no one else but Mukherjee, who is related to Bollywood stars Kajol and Rani, to direct this film.
“The only person who could have done Wake Up Sid was Ayan. It was his idea, and he is the one who could do complete justice to it since he is younger and in the same zone as Sid, the protagonist,” Johar said in his interview with IANS. “There was no way I could have come into his way and bring in some kind of fantastical aspect to the plot.”
To that, the producer also said he envisioned his Dharma Productions providing an avenue for many up-and-coming directors to hone their craft and create first-rate films.
“Why should I come in the way of any filmmaker’s vision?” he colloquially asked. “It’s their baby and it should not necessarily look the way I want it. I don’t want them to be me. I want my directors to be their own brand.”
With that in mind, Johar believes Mukherjee did an excellent job in directing Wake Up Sid, making it a film that audiences, both large and small, will relate to, even though it was produced under the guise of a major Bollywood production.
“I am not just hoping but also quite positive that the film would cross the boundaries of multiplex audiences,” Johar said in his talk with the media. “The film has all the right ingredients of connecting with larger audiences. Yes, the visual content is such that Wake Up Sid is being perceived as a multiplex film, but the subject and the treatment is so strong that it would cut across all segments of audiences. All of us have been a Sid once in our growing-up years, and it won’t be difficult to see a part of us in the story which is told through this film.”
Moviegoers can start relating to Sid today, as Wake Up Sid is now playing worldwide. The film is produced by Johar and stars Ranbir Kapoor as Sid, Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha Bannerjee and Anupam Kher as Sid’s father, Ram.
(Sampurn Media and Indo-American News Service contributed to this article.)
