‘I don’t want to look YUVVRAAJ as competition” - Karan Johar
‘Dostana’ is a success and Karan Johar, the man who got his entire publicity and promotional machinery in place to ensure that the film reaches out to it’s target audience is grinning from ear to ear. Expectedly so, since ‘Dostana’ has turned out to be one of those rare films that has won critical acclaim and also mass appreciation. Quite unexpected for a movie which catered to an untouched of theme, was a full on commercial film and featured three actors who were not quite having a great time at the box office.
However, things have changed today with Tarun Mansukhani being the new star director on the block, Abhishek’s career being resurrected, Priyanka Chopra finally breathing easy with back to back success in the form of ‘Fashion’ and now ‘Dostana’ and John Abraham back into reckoning after a one year long hiatus since the release of ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’.
Over to Karan Johar who gets into an exclusive conversation with Joginder Tuteja as the film ends it’s first week run. Here, he shares his experience about the performance of the film and how his vision has been met, courtesy audience which has made ‘Dostana’ a success it is today.
Karan, ‘Dostana’ saw a good opening weekend with collections remaining stable even in the course of the week. As expected?
Pretty much bang on target I must say. Yash Raj Films, the distributors of the film and we at Dharma Productions were expecting this kind of collections trend. What is particularly heartening is to see the kind of response from overseas. It is just great and one of the best for Bollywood films this year. After a very good weekend, the weekdays have sustained as well which is superb.
So how much does the success of ‘Dostana’ eventually mean to you?
It absolutely means a lot to me because first and foremost it is a validation of all the hard work from the team. Also, the brand image that Dharma Productions stands for has been taken care of after ‘Dostana’. I had to maintain a quality of production house and I am glad that the film has only added on to it.
You would agree though that at the end of the day you were trying to make a statement; isn’t it?
I am very proud if I have actually been able to make a statement. See, you have to walk carefully because in the end, you don’t want things to be sensationalized. Also, we didn’t want a subject like this to become controversial. In the end, I am happy that ‘Dostana’ has been accepted all over since it has come in the time when so movies are made that are formulaic but don’t quite succeed.
For Abhishek too, it has been some redemption, especially after the failure of ‘Drona’!
Abhishek comes with an exemplary comic timing and I am glad that the film has tapped it really well. It is indeed his finest performance till date. However, one can’t ignore the fact that the chemistry between him and John was so integral to the film. This is why I have always maintained that without him and John being comfortable, ‘Dostana’ wouldn’t have been what it is today. They had a great rapport on the sets and it showed.
Dharma Productions now has two successful films with the same title. Quite some lucky coincidence, right?
Yes, it does feel good that more than 20 years after our earlier ‘Dostana’ [Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha], this one too is a success. We had a very successful ‘Dostana’ earlier and hence it was an important title for us as well. We couldn’t have afforded to get the production house down in case we were not able to justify the title. Now it is another success for Dharma Productions so I am indeed ecstatic about this fact.
How are you looking at sustaining the film’s golden run in weeks to come? Are you through with the promotion and letting people do the talking or are you continuing to pump in money?
Audience word of mouth has been extremely positive which has made possible for the film to garner consistently good collections. This is why I am so much looking forward to bountiful of collections in this weekend. However, I am not lying low on the promotional machinery. It will continue to be on a higher end. Marketing team has really pitched the movie very well amongst the audience and we are going to make sure that there is no relaxation on that front in next few weeks at least.
‘Yuuvraaj’ has released over the weekend. Some competition in the offering?
I don’t even want it to look as competition. There is no question of any bad vibes for any of the two movies. Subhashji is a film maker of grand repute and it is not in my DNA to think negatively about the work of other people.
There is no biggie till ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ arrives on 12th December. That must be some relief.
I am happy for the four weeks window that I am getting. This should help the figures of ‘Dostana’. ‘Rab Ne…’ is huge and I hope that my film makes the most of the days leading to it’s release.
Joginder tuteja
