Karan Johar about nepotism: Am I working with my nieces, nephews, daughters, cousins?

Director-producer Karan Johar has embraced a new chapter of life. Recently, he became a father of twin children Yash and Roohi through surrogacy. Amid all the blessings and good wishes everyone showered upon him and his newborns, Karan flew to London to deliver a speech at the London School of Economics.

And if you thought the verbal war between KJo and Kangana Ranaut was over, you were wrong! It all started with Kangana accusing Karan of ‘nepotism’ and she even got away with it during the show.

However, in yesterday’s speech, he took a good, long dig at the actress, adding that she did not know the true meaning of nepotism. (Also Read: Karan Johar’s twins have been in hospital since their premature birth)

“She was my guest and I had to hear what she had to say. She has a right to have an opinion. When she says ‘flag bearer of nepotism’, I just want to say her, I am glad she knows what it all means. I don’t think she has understood the entire meaning of the term. What is nepotism… am I working with my nieces, nephews, daughters, cousins,” Karan lashed out.

“And what about those 15 filmmakers, who are not from the film industry, who I have launched and who did the movies. That we’re not going to talk about! Tarun Mansukhani, Puneet Malhotra, Shakun Batra, Shashank Khaitan… they all come from no film background. You give these people film careers and they have a platform to stand on and that’s the reverse of nepotism,” he added.

Karan’s 2012 film ‘Student of The Year’ marked the big debut of Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan; both star kids, and prominent actors of today. However, there was also Sidharth Malhotra debuting with the same film who came from a non-filmy background and has made his own mark today. Not just nepotism, Kangana had also referred to the filmmaker as ‘movie mafia’.

“But that’s just two of them who I have introduced. Sidharth Malhotra is also one-third of the trio, and he had nothing to do with movies, so I didn’t get what she (Kangana) meant. But when she said ‘movie mafia’, what does she mean? What does she think we are doing – sitting here and not giving her work? Is that what makes us a mafia? No, may be that was my choice. At the end of the day, may be I am not interested in working with her. That doesn’t make me movie mafia; that makes me a man with an opinion,” he reacted.

Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.