Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; January 31, 2014)

The fourth season of Koffee With Karan is generating the kind of naughty buzz that it should. Even before it went on air, the excitement amongst the participants was palpable. KJo, the host and dost of B-Town celebrities, attributes it to casual irreverence and a fun vibe during his conversations with them. Not to forget, the new combinations like Ranbir Kapoor-Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone-Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh-Arjun Kapoor and first timers like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Emraan Hashmi and Mahesh Bhatt.

Calling it one of the best seasons, he beams, “It’s been great this time, very happy and easy. The brand has been enhanced. Also, the show has been at an all-time high on the social media front. And on the videosharing website too, because people have been revisiting the episodes for a repeat viewing.” Interestingly, each episode has been crossing a million views, while the episode with Salman has crossed three million views.

The competitive nature of the celebs — seen in the Rapid Fire round, with the winner earning the Koffee Hamper — is seen in extension mode, as the two guests also battle it out in the Koffee Quiz, with the winner getting a present from Karan. This quiz has gone down really very well with the audience, with the people playing along with the celebrities,” says the filmmaker, adding, “I love it when they’re competing for the hamper. We can do an entire show on the ‘Hamper Wars’. The celeb guests want to win the hamper and the quiz, that’s also why they drop their guard in excitement.”

Always ready to take to a joke, when his guests poke fun at him too, Karan says, “It’s a two way street. Akshay had come prepared with his own armour and I was taken aback when he pulled out the chit. Such things make the show more spontaneous and fun. It’s great when my guests take a swing back at me.”

 Karan promises to keep the momentum and fun quotient going strong. The coming episodes see the Aashiqui 2 jodi — Aditya Roy Kapur-Shraddha Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Juhi Chawla (who also is a first timer) among others.

The filmmaker, who has productions like Humty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya and Ungli and co-productions like Hasee Toh Phasee and 2 States coming up, says that they are yet to structure the finale. “But it will certainly be exciting and great fun,” he promises.