You
won't
find
a
better
friend
than
Karan
Johar
in
the
film
industry.
Buzz
has
it
that
he
shared
the
story
idea
of
Kurbaan
with
his
pals
at
Yash
Raj
Films
(which
he
calls
his
second
home).
Before
he
knew
it
Yashraj's
New
York
was
out
before
Karan's
Kurbaan.
And
now
Karan
has
gone
and
postponed
his
own
plans
of
heading
into
producing
television
content
only
so
that
his
friend
Aditya
Chopra
can
get
a
head
start.
Not
only
that,
Karan
has
even
agreed
to
host
a
posh
chat
show
with
super-celebrities
called
Lift
Kara
De
where
he
will
interact
with
super-icons,
when
ideally
Karan
would've
preferred
to
use
his
own
name
and
clout
for
television
within
his
own
production
house.
The
20
super-icons
that
Karan
would
be
interviewing
on
the
show
to
be
telecast
on
Sony
Entertainment
are
Lata
Mangeshkar,
Amitabh
Bachchan,
A
R
Rahman,
Dharmendra,
Shahrukh
Khan,
Salman
Khan,
Hrithik
Roshan,
Akshay
Kumar,
Sanjay
Dutt,
John
Abraham,
Shahid
Kapoor,
Ranbir
Kapoor,
Katrina
Kaif,
Rani
Mukherjee,
Deepika
Padukone,
Kajol,
Priyanka
Chopra,
Bipasha
Basu,
Kareena
Kapoor
and
Preity
Zinta.
Says
Karan,
"Working
for
Yashraj
is
like
working
for
my
own
production
house.
When
Adi
offered
me
the
show,
it
immediately
struck
a
chord
within
me.
I
have
a
done
a
talk
show
on
Star
World.
But
that
was
more
fun
candid
and
gossipy.
But
Adi
felt
I
needed
to
project
a
more
serious
side
to
my
personality.
Of
course
I'm
fun
and
witty
and
acidic.
But
Adi
said
why
don't
you
tap
into
the
other
unseen
part
of
you?
I
loved
it
because
it
is
human
and
personal.
I
think
it
has
great
connect
value.
It's
about
searching
for
every
icon's
biggest
fan."
What
appealed
to
Karan
was
the
search
for
iconic
superstars.
"How
we
define
an
icon
is
very
interesting.
What
about
Lara
Dutta
and
Priyanka
Chopra
because
of
whom
kids
want
to
win
beauty
pageants
or
enter
the
fashion
world,
or
what
about
kids
wanting
to
imitate
Kareena
Kapoor's
clothes...they
are
all
iconic.
These
people
create
dreams
for
million." Aditya
Chopra
has
done
all
the
ground
work
and
drawn
up
the
list
of
celebrities.
"I'm
just
hosting
the
show.
I'm
just
happy
to
be
part
of
Yashraj's
foray
into
television,"
says
Karan.
As
for
Karan's
own
television
foray
he
says,
"We
at
Dharma
are
definitely
looking
at
going
into
television.
Maybe
in
a
year.
I
believe
television
is
a
very
impressionable
medium
of
entertainment.
And
I've
the
biggest
fan
of
the
home
medium
in
my
home.
My
mother
keeps
telling
me
that
she'd
love
to
watch
my
shows
on
television.
She
has
inspired
me
to
start
a
television
unit
at
Dharma.
We'll
now
take
a
call
after
the
release
of
My
Name
Is
Khan.
"
Now
of
course
Yash
Raj
has
beaten
Dharma
to
it.
So
Karan
will
give
his
own
television
software
dreams
a
decent
gap.
"We'll
be
doing
television
on
a
much
smaller
scale
than
Yashraj.
I
don't
have
the
infrastructure
or
the
knowledge
to
do
television
as
seriously
as
Adi,"
says
Karan.
Karan
Johar
Obviously
Karan
believes
in
kurbaani
when
it
comes
to
dostana.
He
laughs
off
the
resemblances
between
Kurbaan
and
New
York.
"I
don't
see
the
similarities
between
the
two
films
in
terms
of
content,
visual
and
tonal
treatment.
New
York
did
much
better
and
I
personally
liked
the
film.
Every
film
has
its
own
destiny.
Even
if
Kurbaan
had
come
first,
it
would've
performed
just
as
it
did.
Kurbaan
was
more
niche
in
treatment.
I'm
very
proud
of
Kurbaan.
It's
possibly
the
most
credible
film
I've
ever
made."
Karan
is
proud
to
launch
new
directorial
talent
from
his
production,
house.
"For
many
years
we
launched
no
new
talent.
I
wanted
to
take
cinema
ahead.
Now
I
think
I've
done
better
than
launching
new
talent.
I've
launched
captains
of
the
ship."
At
the
moment
Karan
is
completely
immersed
in
the
process
of
editing
his
own
directorial
venture
My
Name
Is
Khan.
"Shahrukh
and
I
feel
we've
made
a
film
we
can
be
proud
of.
It's
the
most
uncorrupted
uncompromised
and
honest
film
we've
made.
Of
course
I'm
anxious
to
see
how
audiences
embrace
the
humanism
of
My
Name
Is
Khan."
Any
fears
that
the
film
may
suffer
for
because
Karan's
films
have
been
identified
as
closet
musicals
whereas
My
Name
Is
Khan
has
no
lip-sync
songs?
"Even
Rang
De
Basanti
had
no
lip-sync
songs,"
retorts
Karan.
"I
do
feel
audiences
are
naturing
even
if
a
serious
film
like
Kurbaan
fails.
It's
the
budget
that
failed.
Not
Kurbaan.
It
was
a
cinematic
success,
although
a
box-office
failure.
Because
it
was
so
monstrously
expensive
we
couldn't
recover
our
investments.
Unusual
films
should
be
cautiously
budgeted."
Karan
is
very
happy
with
the
year
that
was.
"We're
proud
of
the
directorial
talent
we
launched
this
year.
25-year
old
Ayan
Mukherjee
made
his
debut.
I'm
grateful
to
give
him
the
opportunity.
And
Rensil
D'Silva,
I'm
very
proud
of
both.
And
yes
they're
doing
their
second
film
with
Dharma.
Ayan
is
on
a
backpack
holiday
in
Argentina.
But
Rensil
has
already
given
me
his
next
script.
Starting
with
Dostana
and
then
going
on
to
Wake
Up
Sid
and
Kurbaan,
I'm
thrilled
at
where
I'm
taking
Dharma.
I'd
be
much
happier
taking
cinema
ahead
than
making
money.
Cinema
from
the
heart
is
far
more
important
than
money
in
the
bank."