30 Unknown Facts About Bollywood’s Most Loved Director Karan Johar

Karan Johar, often informally referred to as KJo, is a most popular Indian director, screenwriter, television personality, producer and costume designer. He is the son of the famous producer Yash Johar. He was born on May 25, 1972 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Here are 30 interesting facts about the director:

1. He is the first Indian film maker to have been a Jury Member in the Miss World Competition, held in Warsaw, Poland on September 30, 2006.
2. For his role as Kaizad Khambatta in "Bombay Velvet," in which he plays the antagonist, he charged only 11 Rupee as his fee.
3. Johar was one among the world's best "250 Global Young Leaders," chosen by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, in the year 2007.
4. His father Yash Johar wanted him to be an actor and was also ready to launch him to the box office with the Dharma Productions banner.
5. With his movie "Student of the Year," he wanted to launch Sanjay Grover, son of Gulshan Grover. However, he declined the offer.
6. "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" was Johar's debut as a director in the film industry. It was with this movie that he adopted a different style of film making with use of love triangles.
7. His second blockbuster as a director - "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..." starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan, was one of the first Indian movies to have a making-of book written for it.
8. As a Director, he names most of his movies with K as the first letter in the title or have atleast a word in the title that stars with letter K. This is said to be because he believed in numerology and followed it. He has reportedly stopped the pratice now.
9. The 2009 movie "Kurbaan," was supposed to be initially directed by Karan Johar starring Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Sanjay Dutt in the main leads. However, he dropped the project due to working on "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham."
10. He has never been married till date. He is a single father to twins through surrogacy. His son's name is Yash, after his father and his daughter's name is Roohi, rearranged from his mother's name Hiroo.
11. He has been serving as a judge in a couple of Indian reality shows "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa," and "India's Got Talent," since 2012.
12. He wanted to remake the 1990 movie "Agneepath," starring Amitabh Bachan, which was produced by his father. The movie did not do well at the box office so, he remade the movie starring Hrithik Roshan.
13. His role as Kaizad Khambatta in "Bombay Velvet," was his first appearance in a movie, though before this he has done many guest appearance.
14. The idea for his blockbuster movie "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna," is said to have struck Johar, when he saw the movie "Before Sunset," during his trip to London. The same day, he happened to have overheard a married couple parting ways at a restaurant. The movie and the incident moved him and he decided to explore the idea.
15. His life's ambition is to walk the Oscar's red carpet and win an Academy Award. He once said that he has been rehearsing the speech "This is for you, India," for long that he would say in the Academy Award stage while holding an Oscar.
16. He first started his career as an assitant director to Aditya Chopra in the blockbuster film "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge," which till date is considered to be a landmark in the Bollywood Cinema.
17. He was inspired to do the movie "Kaal," by Aditya Chopra who broke Yash Raj Films out of their romantic film mold with 2004 "Dhoom." As a tribute, he casted John Abraham and Esha Deol.
18. The script of his movie "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna," which he co-wrote was received well by a number of critics, and was also invited to be included in the library of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
19. His famous blockbuster movie "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai," was actually a mix of two different story ideas, Johar had in mind for two different movies. Not knowing which movie to make, he mixed both his ideas and came up with this movie.
20. The romantic relationship between Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in "My Name is Khan," directed by Johar, was actually inspired from a book written by Chris and Gisela Slater-Walker. While writing the script he along with scriptwriter Shibani Bathija, interviewed the Walkers about it, to have a clear picture.
21. His performance in the movie "Bombay Velvet," as the main antagonist was received well and Critic Sarita A. Tanwar commented, "The only consolation in the film is Karan Johar who brings a lot of dignity to the character of Khambatta... which is commendable since this is totally outside his comfort space." It was in this movie that he made his full-fledged acting debut, though the movie did not perform well at box office.
22. Salman Khan was once invited to Johar's "Koffee with Karan" TV show. Khan reportedly declined the invite as he was scared that Johar would dig deep into his personal life with questions like girlfriends, marriage and breakups.
23. In January 2017, he released "An Unsuitable Boy," an autobiography, in which he reminisces about his childhood, the influence of his parents, obession with Bollywood, his love life, and his friendships with Aditya Chopra, Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan.
24. The 2015 movie "Bombay Velvet," was the second time in which Johar appeared as an actor. He acted as Shahrukh Khan's friend in "Dilwale Dhulaniya Le Jayenge" in 1995.
25. Johar was invited as cultural leader in the World Economic Forum in the year 2017.
26. He reportedly wrote the entire film script of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil," in just 30 days. The movie, compared to his other films, is a different story that revolves around an urban love quadrangle between four characters.
27. He was praised by several critics for his directorial style in the movie "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna," which was totally different from his previous two movies. Rajeev Masand wrote about him, "Few writers have such solid control over their screenplay as Karan Johar does. Few understand the intricacies of narrative as well as he does. Johar goes from highs to lows, from plateaus to peaks with the ease of a pro. He knows exactly how to turn a seemingly ordinary scene into something special with just that one line of dialogue, or that hint of background music."
28. With Johar's superhit movie "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai," his father Yash Johar became even more successful producer and their production banner - Dharma Productions became major than before.
29. In the movies "Veer-Zaara" and "Dil To Pagal Hai," it was Johar who specifically designed Shah Rukh Khan's costumes. He was also the costume designer for Amitabh Bachchan in the blockbuster "Mohabbatein."
30. Apart from former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Johar is the only other Indian to have been invited for the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
31. Karan Johar Net Worth: Johar’s net worth, as of June 2017, is estimated to be $200 Million.