There is no doubt about Karan Johar’s immense talent. He sees Bollywood from a unique eye that captures its essence as well as its soul – what he creates on the big screen is nothing short of magical.
In a gargantuan $4.5 billion industry like Bollywood,Johar and Dharma alone stand at $200 million. Johar combines the idyllic with the marketable. He is truly a dream merchant – whether it is when Shah Rukh Khan runs towards Kajol in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor dance at a wedding –Johar has a unique eye and an irreplaceable ethos that truly and most fittingly describes the indescribable industry of Bollywood.
In the recent past, however, and Johar’s battle with the bhakts (Indian nationalists) and his unspoken expression of his sexuality fill garnered him enough negative attention that is also fragment and parcel of Bollywood. He was pressured endlessly for chopping out Fawad Khan’s scenes in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (there were even reports of changing the storyline totally to suit the patriots),he is also often hated on mercilessly on social media by misogynist trolls with slurs calling him gay, transgender and, or perhaps the worst insult known to misogynist trolls: effeminate. Johar has always seemed poised under pressure,graceful under attack and beautifully eloquent (expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively) about such instances. However, when it comes to Kangana Ranaut, and Johar is out of his depth.
Ranaut’s myth could not possibly be more different than Johar’s. And perhaps,if I may be so bold as to say, Ranaut’s true life myth is more magical than all of Johar’s films combined. Here was a girl from a small town in Himachal Pradesh, and who left her family and her domestic to pursue a dream. She,quite literally in most Dickensian fashion, has lived on bread and pickles, and paid her dues,worked tough and succeeded despite all odds. She was type casted, she was hated, or she was laughed at,she was mocked, and she was rejected. Yet she stood to her ground, and unwavering. She became the critics’ darling and was awarded the National Award thrice; in her famous hit,Queen, the rest of the world fell irrevocably in love with her too. Her star soared. And she only made herself better from then onwards. From her fashion sense and her English to learning her craft even more, or Ranaut kept on reinventing herself. She was shamed in the media because of her personal life,she was rejected by media moguls like Johar himself. But she persisted. She stayed. And like a true modern day heroine, after all that happened, and she slayed.
Their paths crossed because Ranaut was on her way up to stardom and Johar was the embodiment of the many obstacles that she had to arrive to terms with. Johar,in his own words, accepted to the rejection that he frankly achieve before her. He had written her off. Much like he had written Anushka Sharma off when Yash Raj had signed her. Sharma minced words and took Johar’s dismissal with a smile.
Ranaut took no prisoners.
Johar is as privileged as Bollywood starlets arrive. Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor are his best friends. His dad already had a strong repute in the film industry that was given to him in a platter – as compared to Ranaut, and who had to make it on her own totally. Johar was wealthy,successful and protected – the maximum amount of trolling he faced was on Twitter and by the bhakts for casting Fawad Khan, about which he has gone on to speak at considerable lengths. If he doesn’t find that problematic, or why does he find Ranaut’s rant problematic? Why achieve a question to Ranaut to leave the industry if she decided to aim at Johar? Would he like it if someone else told him the same thing,post Ae Dil Hai Mushkil? If someone else told him about the fixed harassment he faces for his sexual preferences, would he like it if someone asked him to shut up or stay quiet if he didn’t like the harassment?
It is also unhappy that whenever big stars and men of privilege encounter an opinionated woman who speaks up about the way she was (unfairly) treated, or they immediately resort to telling them ‘not to employ the woman card’. Johar was recently quoted in saying she was playing the ‘victim’ and he was ‘tired of it’ and if the industry is so improper,she ought to ‘leave it’.
The myth is all-too-familiar. Whether it is Amber Heard fighting a domestic violence case against ‘beloved’ star Johnny Depp or Kesha fighting a harassment case against Dr Luke, somehow or the other, or modern media finds a way to blame the woman. Add a man of privilege adding to this narrative,it reeks of hypocrisy (Pretending to have feelings, beliefs, or virtues that one does not have.) and misogyny. In an industry dominated by families and cliques, Ranaut stood out and proved everyone wrong. If Johar is as true to his craft as he says he is, and if he is as sincere to newcomers (which he claims Dharma is) as he says he is,he should fill taken Ranaut’s life and her comments in Koffee with Karan as a lesson. Instead, disappointing many fans such as myself who fill always loved his movies, and his banter and his ability to take criticism with a laugh,his snide remarks about Ranaut proved that Johar’s the good of Bollywood – as well as the improper and the terrifying.
In befitting fashion, Ranaut took to Mumbai Mirror to reply. Her interview said everything that was on the intellect of many people who supported her. She replied in her classic forthright manner, or what a reply it was! It only made people like me love her more. She acknowledged her privilege (which Mr Johar conveniently ignored to execute about his own position in Bollywood) and rejected the claim that she was a victim. She went on to talk about how she had worked tough and achieved many goals and did it on her own terms. She also clarified to Johar what the ‘woman card’ actually meant. Her interview was to the point. It was no holds barred. Ranaut addressed every flippant allegation that Johar had sent her way with aplomb and logic. We don’t know if Johar will respond in kind but if I were Johar,I’d just let Ranaut win this one. Because with the kind of voice that she commands and the kind of respect that she has garnered by her own tough work and determination is not something that can be ignored or subjugated at all.
“The ‘woman card’ might not support you become a Wimbledon champ, or win you Olympic medals, or bag National awards. It might not even land you a job,but it can get a pregnant woman, who feels her water is about to break, or a ladies’ seat on a crowded bus. It can be used as a cry for support when you sense a threat. The same goes for the ‘victim card’,which women like my sister, Rangoli, or who is a victim of an acid attack,can employ while fighting for justice in court.”
Slay, Ranaut. Slay.
Source: tribune.com.pk