This
was
the
scene
in
my
newsroom
yesterday:
A
letter
saying,
My
Name
Is
Khan
is
all
about
loving
Karan
Johar.'
Then
another
letter
read
-
'We
want
to
read
interviews
of
Karan
Johar,
Shah
Rukh
Khan
and
Kajol.'
A
few
similar
letters
for
interview
request
started
to
pour
in.
My
editor
gets
panicky.
He
sends
across
an
email
for
me
to
interview
Karan,
SRK
and
Kajol
because
he
needs
to
give
an
answer
to
our
readers.
Like
Karan
Johar
states
in
this
exclusive
interview
post
the
release
of
MNIK,
"Our
audiences
like
to
leave
the
cinema
hall
with
a
little
bit
of
hope
in
their
heart
rather
than
a
question
in
their
mind." So
we
decided
to
give
the
same
hope
to
our
readers.
A
few
text
messages
and
I
get
a
call
from
Karan
Johar.
The
rest
is
very
much
readable
below.
What's
not
however,
is
the
overseas
box
office
collections,
especially
in
the
UK,
which
are
phenomenal.
Getting
tickets
has
become
a
major
worry
in
London's
Vue
cinemas
and
some
of
the
privately
owned
cinema
houses
in
Harrow
and
Southall.
But
the
moment
you
get
your
hope
in
form
of
a
ticket,
you
start
to
question
-
What's
there
in
MNIK
that
other
films
lack?
Will
MNIK
beat
K3G,
Karan's
highest
grossing
film
in
the
UK?
Is
MNIK
working
because
of
SRK
and
Kajol?
Answers
to
which
only
one
man
can
give
-
Karan
Johar
himself.
We
spoke
to
the
director
who
changed
the
way
Indian
cinema
was
perceived
in
the
West
with
Kuch
Kuch
Hota
Hai,
who
changed
the
figures
(for
the
best)
at
the
box
office
in
the
West
with
Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham,
who
changed
the
way
people
looked
at
relationships
with
Kabhi
Alvida
Na
Kehna
and
who
is
changing
all
the
above
with
his
just
released
My
Name
Is
Khan.
Here
he
talks
exclusively
on
the
stupendous
success
of
MNIK
in
London,
why
Kurbaan
failed
and
MNIK
didn't,
the
sudden
awakening
amongst
the
Indians
all
over
the
globe
after
the
political
issue
surrounding
the
film,
his
take
on
why
MNIK
isn't
about
demographics
and
answers
the
question
which
the
whole
wide
world
is
waiting
for
-
Was
MNIK
the
best
marketing
stunt
ever
in
the
history
of
Indian
cinema?
Has
My
Name
is
Khan
changed
the
way
people
look
at
cinema
right
now?
I
think
it
is
a
big
departure
in
terms
of
its
tonality
and
its
verbal
texture.
MNIK
is
an
unusual
Bollywood
film,
if
at
all,
and
doesn't
have
that
quintessential
pre-requisite
elements
that
any
Bollywood
film
has.
It's
telling
a
story
with
a
strong
message,
professing
humanity
and
goodness
and
putting
it
out
on
a
big
cinematic
scale.
So
all
put
together
it
is
definitely
a
different
experience
for
main
stream
India.
Has
it
changed
the
way
people
look
at
cinema,
it's
going
to
be
presumptuous
of
me
to
say.
But
all
I
can
say
is
that
MNIK
is
going
to
open
windows
and
doors
to
many
people
who
have
stories
to
tell
and
are
shy
to
put
their
story
on
the
celluloid.
It
is
really
amazing
to
see
the
power
of
cinema
with
two
sort-of-similar
genres
coming
out
of
the
same
banner
with
two
big
stars
of
Bollywood,
with
Kurbaan
not
working
and
MNIK
creating
tidal
waves
across
the
globe.
You're
right.
I'd
say
that
Kurbaan
didn't
have
'hope',
whereas
MNIK
had
'hope'.
Kurbaan
was
more
darker,
grittier
and
a
grey
look
at
a
situation,
whereas
MNIK
is
a
hopeful,
far
more
positive
and
a
lot
more
positivity
in
its
finishing
reels
with
a
triumph
to
the
human
spirit.
Having
said
that,
Kurbaan
was
very
cinematic
and
interesting
in
its
approach
but
it
didn't
offer
a
solution.
Rather
it
just
tells
the
problem.
MNIK
offers
you
that
solution.
But
we
have
to
give
it
to
both
the
films
as
both
films
were
applauded
for
their
own
reasons.
I
liked
Kurbaan
and
was
very
happy
to
produce
it.
At
the
end
of
the
day,
our
audiences
like
to
leave
the
cinema
hall
with
a
little
bit
of
hope
in
their
heart
rather
than
a
question
in
their
mind.
Do
you
think
people
have
woken
up
to
a
certain
extent
after
what
the
Shiv
Sena
tried
to
do
and
did
pre-release?
Yes,
definitely.
With
what
happened
pre-release,
and
of
course
the
content
of
the
film,
there
is
a
certain
synergy.
MNIK
is
definitely
talking
about
coming
together.
It
is
speaking
about
unity
and
humanity,
and
I
think
those
are
the
forgotten
forces
in
our
life.
When
you
are
pushed
against
the
wall
and
you
emerge
from
it
is
also
what
the
film
addresses.
It
speaks
about
racial
differences,
generalisation,
etc.
to
all
the
things
that
we
go
through
daily
in
our
life.
The
film
is
very
identifiable
to
many,
especially
to
the
people
in
the
United
Kingdom
and
The
United
States
of
America.
And
with
what's
going
around
in
Australia
today,
you
know
that
the
racial
problems
are
becoming
a
global
threat.
Subjugation
is
really
something
that
happens
on
a
day
to
day
level
with
people.
So
I
think
that
in
some
way
or
the
other,
people
have
connected
to
the
film.
Rizwan
Khan
brings
about
a
lot
of
hope
and
positivity
to
the
film
to
which
people
have
woken
up
to,
I
feel.
Hats
off
to
you
to
really
understand
the
overseas
market.
Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham
is
your
highest
grossing
film
in
the
UK.
And
with
a
whirlpool
effect,
people
are
getting
sucked
in
to
watch
MNIK.
The
K3G
days
might
just
be
over
I
guess.
MNIK
is
my
sensibility.
This
is
the
kind
of
film
Karan
Johar
makes.
I
did
not
want
to
target
any
particular
audience
here.
My
audiences
have
been
people
living
anywhere
in
the
world.
I
don't
make
a
difference
to
an
Indian
living
in
London
or
an
Indian
living
in
Bihar
or
New
Delhi.
It's
just
the
geography
which
sets
them
apart
but
the
feelings
are
all
the
same.
So
whether
there
are
extreme
reactions
within
my
country,
that
always
happens
because
any
film
comes
with
extreme
reactions.
But
I
have
this
strong
feeling
that
even
in
India,
MNIK
is
giving
that
respect
what
we
are
seeing
today
in
the
overseas.
Our
second
week
might
just
get
stronger.
In
the
West,
its
growth
is
phenomenal.
Humanity
cannot
have
any
kind
of
demographics.
These
extreme
reactions
to
MNIK
are
brought
about
by
slightly
vintage
and
old
thinking
trade
pundits
who
actually
have
no
clue
about
today's
audiences.
I
think
they
are
still
stuck
in
time.
They
think
that
a
great
cinema
is
all
about
a
few
laugh-a-minute
jokes
and
a
few
item
numbers.
Today,
we've
come
such
a
long
way,
thanks
to
our
audiences.
We
give
them
a
lot
less
credit
than
they
actually
deserve.
So
what's
today's
cinema
all
about?
Undying
passion
of
making
films
and
telling
different
stories
or
mere
box
office
collections
and
openings?
I
really
think
that
it's
a
combination
of
everything.
To
get
a
thumbs
up
from
the
audiences
for
films
like
Taare
Zameen
Par
and
Chak
De
India,
it
definitely
had
to
be
commercially
successful
to
resonate
louder.
I
think
that
perception
comes
not
necessarily
from
the
box
office
because
the
most
thinking
audiences
of
our
country
definitely
gives
a
perception,
and
I
feel
that's
what
leads
to
longevity.
Some
films
need
not
be
getting
main
stream
and
commercial
recognition
but
leave
a
strong
mark
for
decades
to
come.
And
I
think
Indian
cinema
has
finally
reached
a
point
where
you
can
have
a
buffet
of
entertainment
-
you
can
have
the
mainstream
entertainer
that
makes
you
money,
you
can
have
the
thinking
cinema
that
builds
a
repute
and
you
can
have
a
small
niche
film
that
can
create
its
own
little
space.
There
have
been
two
drastic
reactions
on
the
networking
sites
-
Facebook
and
Twitter,
firstly
that
MNIK
worked
because
of
the
coming
together
of
the
lead
pair,
and
that's
it.
I
don't
think
any
lead
actors
can
save
a
bad
film.
Eventually,
the
film
has
to
emerge
for
the
lead
star
cast
to
emerge.
Having
said
that,
Shah
Rukh's
character
really
gave
the
reason
why
this
film
is
connecting
to
the
audiences.
I
don't
think
that
a
hit
pair
coming
together
is
the
only
reason
for
it
to
kind
of
work
commercially.
Secondly,
many
assume:
What
a
lovely
marketing
stunt
it
was
to
promote
MNIK.
That's
an
absolutely
brain
dead,
cynical
and
an
ignorant
statement
to
make.
I
don't
think,
neither
Shah
Rukh
nor
me
would
ever
have
wanted
something
like
this
to
happen.
It
was
something
that
happened
and
I
don't
want
to
comment
on.
We've
kind
of
moved
ahead
in
time
with
it
but
to
call
MNIK
a
publicity
gimmick
is
careless,
insensitive
and
ignorant.
Forget
me;
it
is
disrespectful
to
an
icon
like
SRK
who
does
not
need
to
resort
to
a
publicity
stunt
to
get
an
opening
weekend.
Twenty
years
of
working
in
the
industry
has
earned
SRK
the
fact
that
he
doesn't
need
any
marketing
gimmick
to
get
a
great
opening.