‘I’m a Punjabi, dance is in my blood’

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On an all city tour and even stopping by colleges to promote his film Student of the Year, that releases next weekend, Karan Johar spoke to us in an exclusive interview.

Looking dapper in a black jacket and black trousers, we couldn’t resist questioning him why he is always seen sporting black and he laughs it off saying, “Black is my favourite colour. I just feel very comfortable wearing black.”
Talking about his three new finds — David Dhawan’s son Varun, Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter Alia and newbie Siddharth Malhotra, he says, “I had worked with Varun and Siddharth during My Name is Khan where they were assistant directors. I have helped people with direction earlier, but directing first time actors was a challenge. The roughness and rawness that they come with was exciting. It was parenting them at times. The sports sequences in this film were fun like the triathlon training, but I was more at home with the songs. Alia was a bit clumsy in her heels, but I’m glad I picked her before Mahesh could launch her.”
We broach the subject of his latest film and he shares, “I got the idea after I made My Name is Khan. I had decided to do something really young and fresh with a campus element. A sense of competition left a deep mark somewhere, while in college.”
Karan has been spotted a lot on the telly of late on the judge’s seat and our man seems to be enjoying every bit of it. Karan declares, “I kept away from doing these reality shows as a judge for a while, but I love the format of Jhalak... and because of my association with the channel, the guys kept asking me to come on India’s Got Talent too. Though being on TV is good for one’s brand value, I must admit being on the talent show was very educational for me. I have no problem being in front of the camera, as I have hosted many shows and am comfy in acting too. But being a judge comes with a responsibility, as it can make or break someone’s career. I’m very careful and I think I have good knowledge of these arts to judge them.”
We nudge him on his impromptu dance moves in Jhalak and he quips, “I’m a Punjabi and it’s in my blood. Shaadi dancing is what we’re good at and moving to the right beats is something that we’re born with. The three kids got a heart attack seeing me do the latkas and jhatkas and Madhuri was shell-shocked. I enjoyed doing it, but the problem is that now wherever I go people ask me to dance. But I have to watch what I do as I’m a filmmaker. Otherwise, pata chalega people call me to do stage shows.”
A self-confessed travel and film buff, KJo says, “I love watching all kinds of films, from world cinema, to art and period films. I also love to travel alone. I also love to watch plays. Of course I party with my close set of friends like Shah Rukh and Manish.”