Showing posts with label The Unsuitable Boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Unsuitable Boy. Show all posts
How Karan Johar kept news of his twins a secret
3:11 PM
Sonil Dedhia and Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 6, 2017)
It must have been incredibly hard for Bollywood's most public figure to keep his life's biggest news under wraps. Just seven days into the birth of his twins, Roohi and Yash, Karan Johar had hosted a singles-only bash at his house on Valentine's Day. As the news broke yesterday, many of the filmmaker's pals, who had attended that party, were thrown off-guard.
An actor, who prefers to remain anonymous, says, "I knew he wanted to have children some day, but I had no idea he was bringing his babies home this soon. Now that I think of it, Karan was not his usual self. He kept excusing himself frequently. But for those who had no idea, they couldn't have guessed."
Even those at Karan's banner, Dharma Productions, were taken by surprise. A source at the production house says, "I don't think anyone in office was aware about it either. Even last month, Karan followed his usual schedule and would come to work every other day."
A unit member of his last film, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, says Karan had briefly mentioned about his desire to have children: "Over the last few years, he was getting increasingly lonely. He even brought home a pup, Nobu, last year. Though constantly surrounded by friends, who are no less than family, he craved kids of his own. I found out about the surrogacy last December. When I asked Karan, all he said was that I must keep it a secret. We all adore him and respect his wishes."
Friends Gauri Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Manish Malhotra were, perhaps, the only ones clued in to the development, says a source at Dharma, adding, "Nothing about his schedule changed in February. He continued to work at the same pace, overseeing promotions of Badrinath Ki Dulhania, curating his chat show and other work commitments."
In his recently-released memoir, The Unsuitable Boy, Karan wrote, "I don't know what I am going to do about it, but I feel like I would like to be a parent. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I do feel the need because I have plenty of love to offer and I'd like to take it forward (sic)."
Johar spent the last week in London, the first few days with BFF Manish Malhotra, and then at an event at the London School of Economics on Saturday. He returned to Mumbai yesterday. "I can imagine him as a paranoid parent, spoiling his kids; I can't see him as a disciplinarian. But it's early to say what kind of a parent he will be. Let's just say, he will make a wonderful father," another close friend says.
'Work would have to take a backseat'
An excerpt of Karan Johar's statement read, "I am ecstatic to share with you all the two most wonderful additions to my life, my children and lifelines; Roohi and Yash. In order to arrive at this decision, I have prepared myself mentally, physically, emotionally and logistically to ensure that my children get all the unconditional love, care and attention from me and mine. My work, travels and social commitments would have to take a back seat. I have the most caring and supportive mother who will be an integral part in the up-bringing of her grandchildren and of course, friends who are family. I am eternally grateful to the surrogate who has fulfilled my lifelong dream and provided a loving and nurturing environment to my children before bringing them into this world. She will always remain in my prayers."
Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don't need to scream it out-Karan Johar
2:18 PM
Effeminate, pansy, homo... KJo has been called a lot of things in his life. In this exclusive excerpt from his biography titled The Unsuitable Boy, he talks about why he's keeping the closet door firmly shut
THE TIMES OF INDIA (January 8, 2017)
Is he gay or isn't he? Karan
Johar may have finally answered that question. In a forthcoming biography, 'The Unsuitable Boy', the film maker has come out candidly on
matters of sex and sexual orientation, just stopping short of a bald
admission. “Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don't need to
scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won't only because I live in
a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is
why I Karan Johar will not say the three words that possibly everybody
knows about me,“ he says.
He talks of being traumatized by rumours about him and Shah Rukh Khan, whom he calls “a father figure, an older brother“. He admits to waking up to 200 hate posts on Twitter daily. “This whole homophobia is so disheartening and upsetting,“ says Johar.
I lost my virginity at 26. Yes, it is true. Why would I say this on record if it were not? It's not something I am proud of. It was in New York. Up till that point, I was sexually completely inexperienced. Even when I was a kid, I was very backward in this department... I still remember the first time someone told me about blow jobs. There was a kid in class who told me, 'You know what a blow job is?' I said,'No, what is it? I've heard about it though.' He said, 'You take off all your clothes and put your fan on high speed, and that's a blow job.' I said, 'I can do that. What is the big deal in that?' And at 12, I remember, I removed my clothes and put my fan on full speed. Later, I told him about it and he said, 'You did it!' I said, 'Yeah, yeah, I did it three times.' He said, 'You had three blow jobs yesterday!' I said, 'Yeah, I had three blow jobs.'
While growing up, I was combating a hundred issues in my head. The thought of sex made me awkward; it almost rattled me. I thought, am I asexual? Why am I not feeling this? Why am I not doing anything? There was a lot of turbulence in my head. For me to address it, talk about it, discuss it, was a big no-no. I brushed it under the carpet all through the making of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. At that time, I was also very large and was grappling with my weight issues. I felt physically undesirable. Post Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I had actually started working a little on my looks. I had lost some weight and had groomed myself a bit. Finally, I had developed a little spring in my step, a little confidence. That's when my first encounter happened, after the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, out of the country.
Today, people think that I have all the possible avenues to have all the sex in the world. But that's not who I am at all. To me, sex is a very, very personal and a very intimate feeling. It's not something that I can do casually, with just about anyone. I have to invest in it. ... I've always handled the rumours that came my way. There has been so much conjecture about my sexuality. For heaven's sake, for years there were rumours about Shah Rukh and me. And I was traumatized by it. I was on a show on a Hindi channel, and I was asked about Shah Rukh. 'Yeh anokha rishta hai aap ka,' the interviewer said. He worded it in such a way that I got really angry . I said, 'If I asked you if you are sleeping with your brother, how will you feel?' So he said, 'What do you mean? How can you ask me this question?' I said, 'How could you ask me this question? For me, no matter what ups and downs Shah Rukh and I have been through, he is a father figure, an older brother to me. For me to look at him in that way or be subjected to those rumours was just ridiculous. But it didn't bother him. He said, 'People talk nonsense, and if a man does not have an extramarital affair, he is supposed to be gay.'
I get scared of being spotted with any single man now because I think they are going to think that I am sleeping with him. I mean, firstly I have never ever talked about my orientation or sexuality because whether I am heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, it is my concern. I refuse to talk about it...I have not been brought up to talk about my sex life. I know I am the butt of many jokes, pun intended. I know how my sexuality is discussed. I have become like the poster boy of homosexuality in this country. But honestly, I have no problem with people saying what they want about me. Twitter has the most abuse. I wake up to at least 200 hate posts saying, 'Get out, you're polluting our nation, you're dirtying society' or 'Shove [IPC Section] 377 up your arse.' I get this on a daily basis and I've learnt to laugh it off...One man came up to me once very cockily at Heathrow airport and said, 'Is it true that you are a homo?' He was with his wife and child, and he asked me this. I looked at him and said, 'Why, are you interested?' And he said, 'Hey, what what what!' And I said, 'Don't what what me.' And I walked out...Some major sections of the English media are very sensitive in the way they approach this question. I'll be asked, 'Oh, there is some conjecture about, you know, your sexuality.' Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don't need to scream it out. And if I need to spell it out, I won't only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I Karan Johar will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me in any case. I've given hints. I've stood on a platform like AIB Roast, and I had half of the people supporting me and the other half dissing me for doing this. But at the end of the day, I did what I did, and I did it with my mother in the front row, and screw you if you have a problem with that. The only thing that bothered me was when people stood on the high moral ground and said, 'Why was your mother in the front row?' But she's cool...Do you know that I tried to stop her from coming but she insisted? So the thing I told her was, 'Mum, laugh. Do not squirm and do not be embarrassed for me because I'm not embarrassed for myself.' If they're going to make jokes about my sexual orientation, I'm okay about it. I'm not embarrassed about who I am. I'm not apologetic. I'm embarrassed about the country I live in vis-à-vis where I come from in terms of my orientation. I'm sad, upset and disheartened with the trolling that happens on social media... At the end of the day, this whole homophobia is so disheartening and upsetting. And then they say, `'Why don't you speak about your sexuality? You could be iconic in this country.' But I don't want to be iconic anywhere. I want to live my life. The reason I don't say it out aloud is simply that I don't want to be dealing with the FIRs. I'm very sorry. I have a job, I have a commitment to my company, to my people who work for me; there are over a hundred people that I'm answerable to. I'm not going to sit in the courts because of ridiculous, completely bigoted individuals who have no education, no intelligence, who go into some kind of rapture for publicity. I've reached a point in my life where I am not going to conform to what people think I should be saying or doing...So if you have an opinion about my sexuality, then screw you. I don't care.
Edited excerpts from An Unsuitable Boy by Karan Johar with Poonam Saxena with permission from Penguin India
He talks of being traumatized by rumours about him and Shah Rukh Khan, whom he calls “a father figure, an older brother“. He admits to waking up to 200 hate posts on Twitter daily. “This whole homophobia is so disheartening and upsetting,“ says Johar.
I lost my virginity at 26. Yes, it is true. Why would I say this on record if it were not? It's not something I am proud of. It was in New York. Up till that point, I was sexually completely inexperienced. Even when I was a kid, I was very backward in this department... I still remember the first time someone told me about blow jobs. There was a kid in class who told me, 'You know what a blow job is?' I said,'No, what is it? I've heard about it though.' He said, 'You take off all your clothes and put your fan on high speed, and that's a blow job.' I said, 'I can do that. What is the big deal in that?' And at 12, I remember, I removed my clothes and put my fan on full speed. Later, I told him about it and he said, 'You did it!' I said, 'Yeah, yeah, I did it three times.' He said, 'You had three blow jobs yesterday!' I said, 'Yeah, I had three blow jobs.'
While growing up, I was combating a hundred issues in my head. The thought of sex made me awkward; it almost rattled me. I thought, am I asexual? Why am I not feeling this? Why am I not doing anything? There was a lot of turbulence in my head. For me to address it, talk about it, discuss it, was a big no-no. I brushed it under the carpet all through the making of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. At that time, I was also very large and was grappling with my weight issues. I felt physically undesirable. Post Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I had actually started working a little on my looks. I had lost some weight and had groomed myself a bit. Finally, I had developed a little spring in my step, a little confidence. That's when my first encounter happened, after the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, out of the country.
Today, people think that I have all the possible avenues to have all the sex in the world. But that's not who I am at all. To me, sex is a very, very personal and a very intimate feeling. It's not something that I can do casually, with just about anyone. I have to invest in it. ... I've always handled the rumours that came my way. There has been so much conjecture about my sexuality. For heaven's sake, for years there were rumours about Shah Rukh and me. And I was traumatized by it. I was on a show on a Hindi channel, and I was asked about Shah Rukh. 'Yeh anokha rishta hai aap ka,' the interviewer said. He worded it in such a way that I got really angry . I said, 'If I asked you if you are sleeping with your brother, how will you feel?' So he said, 'What do you mean? How can you ask me this question?' I said, 'How could you ask me this question? For me, no matter what ups and downs Shah Rukh and I have been through, he is a father figure, an older brother to me. For me to look at him in that way or be subjected to those rumours was just ridiculous. But it didn't bother him. He said, 'People talk nonsense, and if a man does not have an extramarital affair, he is supposed to be gay.'
I get scared of being spotted with any single man now because I think they are going to think that I am sleeping with him. I mean, firstly I have never ever talked about my orientation or sexuality because whether I am heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, it is my concern. I refuse to talk about it...I have not been brought up to talk about my sex life. I know I am the butt of many jokes, pun intended. I know how my sexuality is discussed. I have become like the poster boy of homosexuality in this country. But honestly, I have no problem with people saying what they want about me. Twitter has the most abuse. I wake up to at least 200 hate posts saying, 'Get out, you're polluting our nation, you're dirtying society' or 'Shove [IPC Section] 377 up your arse.' I get this on a daily basis and I've learnt to laugh it off...One man came up to me once very cockily at Heathrow airport and said, 'Is it true that you are a homo?' He was with his wife and child, and he asked me this. I looked at him and said, 'Why, are you interested?' And he said, 'Hey, what what what!' And I said, 'Don't what what me.' And I walked out...Some major sections of the English media are very sensitive in the way they approach this question. I'll be asked, 'Oh, there is some conjecture about, you know, your sexuality.' Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don't need to scream it out. And if I need to spell it out, I won't only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I Karan Johar will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me in any case. I've given hints. I've stood on a platform like AIB Roast, and I had half of the people supporting me and the other half dissing me for doing this. But at the end of the day, I did what I did, and I did it with my mother in the front row, and screw you if you have a problem with that. The only thing that bothered me was when people stood on the high moral ground and said, 'Why was your mother in the front row?' But she's cool...Do you know that I tried to stop her from coming but she insisted? So the thing I told her was, 'Mum, laugh. Do not squirm and do not be embarrassed for me because I'm not embarrassed for myself.' If they're going to make jokes about my sexual orientation, I'm okay about it. I'm not embarrassed about who I am. I'm not apologetic. I'm embarrassed about the country I live in vis-à-vis where I come from in terms of my orientation. I'm sad, upset and disheartened with the trolling that happens on social media... At the end of the day, this whole homophobia is so disheartening and upsetting. And then they say, `'Why don't you speak about your sexuality? You could be iconic in this country.' But I don't want to be iconic anywhere. I want to live my life. The reason I don't say it out aloud is simply that I don't want to be dealing with the FIRs. I'm very sorry. I have a job, I have a commitment to my company, to my people who work for me; there are over a hundred people that I'm answerable to. I'm not going to sit in the courts because of ridiculous, completely bigoted individuals who have no education, no intelligence, who go into some kind of rapture for publicity. I've reached a point in my life where I am not going to conform to what people think I should be saying or doing...So if you have an opinion about my sexuality, then screw you. I don't care.
Edited excerpts from An Unsuitable Boy by Karan Johar with Poonam Saxena with permission from Penguin India
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