When Karan Johar Fainted Directing Mr Bachchan

‘It
must
have
been
the
nervous
excitement
of
shooting
with
THE
Amitabh
Bachchan.’
‘I
had
kept
tossing
and
turning
all
night.’
‘The
next
morning,
I
promptly
fainted
in
Farah
Khan’s
arms.’
‘When
I
came
round,
I
heard
Amitji
saying,
“Please
don’t
faint.
I
promise
I’ll
dance
well”.’

Karan
Johar
has
known
Amitabh
Bachchan
since
childhood.
After
all,
his
father
Yash
Johar
had
produced
one
of
AB’s
hits,

Dostana.

Kjo
himself
has
directed
the
superstar
in
two
films,

Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham
and

Kabhi
Alvida
Na
Kehna.

On
Amitabh
Bachchan’s
82nd
birthday
on
October
11,
Karan
tells

Subhash
K
Jha,
“Why
do
we
have
to
show
him
as
a
humble
patriarch
or
a
retired
don?
In
real
life,
he
wears
the
coolest
clothes
and
plays
the
coolest
music.
If
at
his
age,
if
I
show
even
a
jot
of
his
zest,
I’d
be
blessed.”

You’ve
worked
with
Amitji
not
once
but
twice.

Working
with
him
is
an
honour.

I
have
worked
with
Lataji
(K3G)
and
Amitji,
the
two
legends.
I
am
blessed.

Amitji‘s
characters
in
my

Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham
and

Kabhi
Alvida
Na
Kehna
were
as
dissimilar
as
cinematically
possible.

In
one,
he
was
the
portrait
of
discipline.

In
the
other,
he
was
flamboyant,
a
very
unusual
character,
compared
with
what
he
had
played
earlier.

Do
you
remember
your
first
day
of
shooting
with
him?

On
the
first
day,
I
fainted
on
the
sets.
It
must
have
been
the
nervous
excitement
of
shooting
with
THE
Amitabh
Bachchan.

I
had
kept
tossing
and
turning
all
night.

The
next
morning,
I
promptly
fainted
in
my
choreographer
Farah
Khan’s
arms.

When
I
came
round,
I
heard
Amitji
saying,
‘Please
don’t
faint.
I
promise
I’ll
dance
well.’

Can
you
believe
my
first
day
of
shooting
with
the
legend
of
Indian
cinema,
and
I
had
to
direct
from
a
bed
in
my
makeup
room?

I
felt
like
Francis
Coppola
directing
from
a
bed.

Quite
a
moment
that
must
have
been.

It’s
so
strange,
but
there
was
just
one
moment
in
the
film
when
all
my
main
characters
come
together
for
a
song.
And
I
wasn’t
on
set.

I
was
looking
at
the
scene
from
my
monitor
in
the
makeup
room.

The
doctor
told
me
to
go
home,
but
there
was
no
way
I
could
be
dragged
away.

If
I
had
to
die,
I’d
rather
watch
that
moment
and
then
do
so.

Farah
joked,
‘Karan,
I
hope
you
faint
in
every
song
sequence.
That
way
you’ll
okay
my
dance
movements
far
less
fussily.’

You
had
some
wild
fun
with
Amitji
while
shooting

K3G
in
London?

Subhash,
wild
is
a
bit
of
an
exaggeration.
I
remember
we
went
to
see
the
Nicolas
Cage
starrer,

Captain
Corelli’s
Mandolin
in
London.

Kajol
kept
laughing
and
crying
the
loudest.

Amitji
said
he
wanted
to
keep
going
to
movies
with
her
because
there
are
two
movies
going
on
at
the
same
time
with
Kajol
around.

There
are
two
performances
in

K3G
I’ve
no
hand
in.
One
is
Mr
Bachchan,
the
other
is
Shah
Rukh
Khan.

They
worked
out
everything
completely
on
their
own.

Mr
Bachchan
etched
out
every
gesture
and
nuance
in
his
performance,
so
did
Shah
Rukh.

He
told
me
he’d
be
a
baby
in
his
father’s
house,
but
leave
like
a
man.
And
then
he
would
he
reunite
with
his
father
again
as
a
child
after
10
years.

I
left
the
men
to
do
their
own
thing.
I
dealt
much
better
with
the
women.

In

Kabhi
Alvida
Na
Kehna,
he
was
quite
a
Lothario.

(Laughs)
You
are
saying
that,
not
me.
Abhishek’s
father
in
the
film
was
a
flamboyant
character
and
who
better
equipped
than
Mr
Bachchan
to
play
him?

He’ll
be
called
Sexy
Sam
for
a
long
time.

He
trusted
that
I’d
handle
his
raunchy
role
with
class
and
dignity.

Of
course,
Amitji
is
full
of
class
and
dignity.

Why
do
we
have
to
show
him
as
a
humble
patriarch
or
a
retired
don?

In
real
life,
he
wears
the
coolest
clothes
and
plays
the
coolest
music.

If
at
his
age,
if
I
show
even
a
jot
of
his
zest,
I’d
be
blessed.