Karan Johar: Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has built my personality and brand value

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who made his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998, says he has moved away from innocence to pursue an adventurous ride in the Hindi film industry.

Karan, who is known for popular movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, My Name Is Khan and Student Of The Year, is not just a successful director and producer, but also a designer and a chat show host and a reality show judge.

Asked about his journey as a director in the industry, he said: "I think my journey started with innocence. It went on to maturity and it went on to stability and now it's an adventure."

Karan, who will soon be seen on the small screen via Colors' dance reality TV show Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa as a judge, says that being on the show is like being with family for him.

"I am pretty excited as Jhalak... for me is like a family. To be part of Jhalak... is emotional for me because I began my journey with reality TV with this. Once I got into it, I realised the impact of Indian TV and it has played a large part in building my personality and perhaps my brand value".

"Jhalak... will always remain special for various reasons whether I am a part of it or not. It will always remain a big part of my existence in the entertainment world," the 44-year-old said.

Karan also spoke about the "fake world" of showbiz. When asked about how he deals with it, he said: "I don't know... fakeness is a by-product of circumstance. Sometimes, you have to be artificial or fake to match the environment around you, but then you reach a certain age and stage in your life where you feel you don't need to kind of be a certain person anymore you can be a little closer to yourself."

All said and done, he says "we all still put on a face".

"I am not being my complete real self while answering this question, but it's closer to the truth. Yes, we all are fake, we all are artificial, we all have to put up a face, but with age and with a certain stage the artificiality reduces. Then it's for you and for the audience out there to realise whether they like you and you kind of organically change yourself with the process."

--IANS