“Audience has the ultimate power,” says Karan Johar’s newbie, Siddharth Malhotra

While most newcomers usually take a while to comprehend the industry and understand the finer points of Bollywood that can only be learned with experience, Karan Johar’s protégé Siddharth Malhotra seems to have mastered it all from his mentor! The newcomer made his debut in Karan Johar’s fifth film, Student of the Year, playing the lead alongside Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.

“I was always the quiet one around on the sets and used to observe the proceedings. So one day Karan came up to me and told me what his father, Mr. Yash Johar told him once, that goes, 'If you ever have to invest in something, invest in people.' That was very interesting. I was an AD at that time,” says Siddharth, speaking about the wisdom imparted to him by his mentor Karan Johar. According to the youngster, it’s the audience who matters most in the success of the film. “Yes! Audience has the ultimate power, especially the youth. If you are not liked, no matter by whom you are backed by or whoever's son or daughter you are, it's game over for you.”

And that’s not all. Siddharth also seems to understand the difference between gossip and news that matters. “Everything written in the media should not be taken seriously. It's a mental game. You need to detach yourself from reviews, media, etc. How to survive before and after release too matters a lot. So the audience is finally the one who gives you the green signal whether you will survive in this industry or not, and nobody else,” added Siddharth.

Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap’s joint venture to be directed by Vinil Mathew

Dharma Productions chief Karan Johar and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap have been known to follow two different schools of filmmaking. That however hasn’t kept the two from teaming up for an upcoming film. With his latest directorial venture, Student of the Year receiving rave reviews, Karan Johar is all set to begin producing his next with Anurag Kashyap. While Anurag and Karan have chosen to remain tightlipped and have given out no information in regards to the film, news of Dharma Productions and Phantom Films working together has spilled out. “I have a lot of admiration for the production house since it has directors like Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag at the helm. I have had such exciting meetings with them, with all the directors discussing storylines, titles and other details of Vinil’s film,” stated Karan.

The project will be directed by Vinil Mathew who directed a television commercial for a coffee brand that featured Deepika Padukone and Karan Johar. “The film is a quintessential love story that will feature a young cast. We will announce the names in a few days,” said Karan, adding, “The way he (Vinil Mathew) handles relationships in his ads is something you can’t ignore. And that is what he is doing in our film too,” articulated Karan Johar.

Apart from that, nothing more has been divulged in regards to this film. there have been rumors of Siddharth Malhotra of Student of the Year fame being cast alongside Parineeti Chopra in this film. “The film is a quintessential love story that will feature a young cast. We will announce the names in a few days,” said Karan, adding, “The way he (Vinil Mathew) handles relationships in his ads is something you can’t ignore. And that is what he is doing in our film too.”

Karan Johar’s newbie, Siddharth Malhotra, is Bollywood’s newest heartthrob

Siddharth Malhotra has made it big with his Bollywood debut in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year. The young actor made his first appearance alongside two more newcomers, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. However, while Varun and Alia both hail from filmy backgrounds, with Varun being the son of filmmaker David Dhawan and Alia being director Mahesh Bhatt’s son, Siddharth comes from a completely non-filmy background and was earlier a model. The film was a dream debut for a youngster who has always had an affinity for the world of movies.

“I came to Mumbai to be an actor. I was modeling in Delhi with my agency and then came to Mumbai for a film to be directed by Anubhav Sinha after Cash. It was being produced by Adlabs. My parents were surprised and I had to show them my contract but luckily that film never took off. Then Anubhav started Ra.One. That's when I thought to stay back and try a bit out in the B-town. If it wasn't for the money I earned from my first producers for the film that didn't take off, I wouldn't have been here in Mumbai. That had to happen for me to come here,” said Siddharth Malhotra.

He went on to add, “For me to try, I had to know how the film fraternity functions. So that's where assisting came up and I got ‘My Name Is Khan’. Modeling for me was always part time but to be an actor was always at the back of my head. I now understand pre-production, post-production, shot breakdown, etc. I am now more aware of how a film is made and I knew I had to be in Mumbai for good to be in the profession that I always wanted to pursue - acting.”

Siddharth Malhotra’s debut, Student of the Year, released on the 19th of October, 2012. There have also been rumors of the actor starring in Karan Johar’s upcoming production alongside Parineeti Chopra.

Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor to produce film starring Emraan Hashmi

Karan Johar has made headlines recently with the release of his fifth directorial venture, Student of the Year. Now, after the tremendous success of his coming-of-age campus romance, director-producer Karan Johar is drawing up plans for his next project. As per reports, the Dharma Productions chief will tie up with producer Ekta Kapoor for the upcoming project. Apparently, the film is a love-hate story that will star actor Emraan Hashmi in the lead. “Ekta and I had been deliberating for a while to work together, but we were sure we wanted to work on something different and edgy. This script was perfect. I’d call it a love-hate story. In fact, it is one of the most interesting scripts I’ve read in recent times. Both the protagonists are strong characters and have a great opportunity to perform,” said Karan Johar.

While the film’s female lead and director is yet to be confirmed, Karan Johar seems excited to be working with Emraan. "I always liked him from before. I liked him in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, The Dirty Picture, I think he really suited the role so well. For this film (untitled) the script suited him... it is different for him and yet it suited him tremendously. I am really very excited about it," said Karan.

Previously, Karan Johar has directed several films including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), My Name Is Khan (2010) and Student of the Year (2012). Apart from that, he has also produced several films under his Dharma Productions banner. Stay tuned for more on this multifaceted filmmaker and his plans for the future!

Karan Johar found directing newcomers to be a challenging task

Karan Johar stepped away from his usual filmmaking rituals for his latest release, Student of the Year. For one, this was his shortest movie. A director known for rolling out particularly long sagas, Karan chose to keep Student of the Year short. Apart from that, the film was Karan’s first directorial venture without his close friend and lucky charm, Shah Rukh Khan, in the lead. Instead, Karan chose to settle for three newcomers to grace the lead. Obviously, given the fact that this was Karan’s first without seasoned actors, the film was indeed a challenge for the director.

“You Know I think I was more stressed out than them, because you have to deconstruct your own ways of directing. You kind of get into a pattern with movie stars specially with Shah Rukh, and I think I got into a pattern as a director directing him and other movie stars, so I had to kind of deconstruct my own thought process. I found myself giving them really archaic instructions – telling them things like the way Shah Rukh may have done it, over instructing them, giving them stardom instructions and bringing them into your movie frame.”

The film’s lead, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have indeed managed to charm audiences with their debut and have pulled off their respective roles exceptionally well. “Sometimes you need to let people be, which what I was not doing in my first 20 days of work. I was behaving like a really prehistoric, dated and been there done that kind of filmmaker (chuckles). Then I realized that if I am launching new talent I have to leverage from their roughness, their rawness and I shouldn’t over instruct them. Eventually it became fun because I kind of began feeding off their energy,” added Karan Johar.

Karan Johar’s film Student of the Year released on the 19th of October, 2012. This campus romance was proclaimed a blockbuster and received rave reviews.

Karan Johar denies rift in his friendship with Shah Rukh Khan

Director-producer Karan Johar and megastar Shah Rukh Khan have shared a long-standing friendship. The two have forever shared mutual respect and have showered each other’s work with praise from time to time. Karan and Shah Rukh have also worked together more than once with the director roping in the actor for the lead role in all of his directorial ventures except his most recent film, Student of the Year. Shah Rukh Khan has starred in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) and My Name Is Khan (2010) and has jointly produced the film Student of the Year with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.

Despite all of this however, recent rumors of a rift between the two surfaced. Karan Johar however denies it all saying, "Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh are the two reasons I am in the industry. Shah Rukh is like my older brother, and I am bound to him for emotional, spiritual and professional reasons. Like wine, he keeps getting better with age.” The director also went all out with praise for Shah Rukh’s recent film by the late Yash Chopra titled Jab Tak Hai Jaan "From Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to MNIK or even Jab Tak Hai Jaan... he has grown in strength, stature. The intensity and maturity with which he performed his role of a lover and soldier in Jab Tak Hai Jaan speaks of a man who has seen life,” added Karan.

For Karan Johar, the Shah Rukh Khan he knows on-screen is unlike the person he knows in real life. The director said, "I always tell him, his off-screen persona makes him a bigger star than his on-screen presence. It would be exciting for any filmmaker to work with him now." One thing’s for sure. There’s no breaking Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar’s bonds of friendship!

Karan Johar’s love-hate story to star Emraan Hashmi in the lead

Karan Johar is known to create on-screen magic and is currently drawing up plans for his future projects. A few months ago, Karan released his fifth directorial venture, Student of the Year. The film, as expected, was successful at the box office and launched into the galaxy of stars three debutants, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. For his upcoming project, Karan Johar has teamed up with Balaji Telefilms’ Ekta Kapoor. The film will include actor Emraan Hashmi who has had a string of hit films including Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Murder 2, The Dirty Picture and Jannat 2.

"Emraan is doing a film for us, Rensil is directing it. And we are also talking to Emraan for another project. I have great amount of respect and regard for him and his talent and the way he strategies his career. He is very talented actor. It is never late, there is always a right time," said Karan Johar a while ago. The director has showered the talented young actor with praise, calling him a terrific actor with a note-worthy fan-base.

"I always liked him from before. I liked him in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, The Dirty Picture, I think he really suited the role so well. For this film (untitled) the script suited him... it is different for him and yet it suited him tremendously. I am really very excited about it," added Karan Johar.

Speaking about the film’s genre, Karan added “. I'd call it a love-hate story. In fact, it is one of the most interesting scripts I've read in recent times. Both the protagonists are strong characters and have a great opportunity to perform."