- Karan Johar stated making multi-starrers like K3G is impossible today due to costs.
- Star remunerations have skyrocketed, making ensemble casts unaffordable now.
- Actors today over-analyse scripts, unlike Shah Rukh Khan's gut-based approach earlier.
Karan Johar's 2001 film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was led by an ensemble cast. A-listers like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor Khan.
In a conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Karan Johar spoke about how it would be impossible to imagine a multi-starrer like K3G today.
What's Happening
- Karan Johar spoke to Bollywood Hungama recently, where he stated how difficult it is to make a multi-starrer like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham today. He elaborated that the remuneration level of the stars would skyrocket today.
- He said, "Today, firstly, the remuneration levels will go crazy, they all will be unaffordable. Everyone wants an arm and a leg, without realizing that the box office is the tough and challenging part of our existence. We need to come together to sort this situation out. We need to head towards a purple patch, and right now, the patch is far from purple."
- Karan continued, "It is very difficult. The fact that you have the film of the year as War 2 with Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR headlining the project - that's bang for the bucks. You've got two of the biggest stars from different film industries. It's like beyond a wishlist to anyone. That's like wow. To bring two lead actors and actresses together in one film is just difficult today."
- He further explained, "You are fighting so many people. Firstly, the actors themselves have their strategies, ideologies, and thoughts. Then there are people advising them, they are telling them this and that."
- Karan further shed light on how actors approached scripts back in the 2000s. He said, "In those days, no one thought so much. When Shah Rukh said yes to K3G, he didn't even read the script. He said, 'Yaar, karni hai.' He was aware of the other actors, but he was like, 'Yeh Karan ki film hai, karni hai.' Shah Rukh still has that way of approaching a film. If he likes the person, he will do the film. But today, people are over-analysing, over-thinking, over-expecting, over-box-officing - and therefore, not over-achieving."
- He concluded by saying that the age-old conviction of just going with one's gut feelings while saying yes to a script, needs to come back. He concluded by saying how easy it was earlier to make multi-starrers.
Plot
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was about a wealthy Indian family called The Raichands. Their family breaks apart when their elder son Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) marries a woman named Anjali (Kajol) of a lower socio-economic status. The son gets disowned by his father, which leads to years of separation until the younger son of the family, Rohan (Hrithik Roshan) tries to make their family whole again, and lets bygones by bygones.
In A Nutshell
Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is often given as one of the best examples of how the trend of multi-starrers was a big thing during the 2000s. The director recently spoke about how today it is a very difficult process because of remunerations and budgets.
