Karan Johar marked Friendship Day with a deeply personal note about the people who helped him move past childhood loneliness, self-doubt and some of the most difficult phases of his life. In a five-part Instagram post, the filmmaker looked back at growing up as an only child, struggling to fit in and eventually finding friendships that have endured for decades.
Blending humour with vulnerability, Karan wrote about his first friend, Farzana Muncherjee, his school bond with Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta and the support he received while his mother, Hiroo Johar, spent 15 days in the ICU.
Karan Johar Recalls Feeling Left Out As A Child
Karan began the post with a memory of watching other children play cricket from the window of his building.
Describing himself as a “plus-size seven-year-old,” he joked that he was far more interested in hopscotch becoming a national sport than joining the boys outside.
“I used to look outside of my building window as a PLUS size 7 year old,” he wrote, adding that he felt incapable of either “making a run or making a run for it”.
The humour, however, masked a deeper sense of isolation. His next thought, he recalled, was, “Why don’t I have any friends?”
Karan said being an only child gave him what he jokingly called “the greatest gift of all time… self pity”. At that stage, his world largely revolved around his bedroom and his own insecurities.
That changed when Farzana Muncherjee entered his life.
Farzana Muncherjee Became His First Friend
Karan described Farzana as a “gregarious Parsee girl” who pulled him out of his shell and helped him recognise that he was spending too much time feeling sorry for himself.
“She swooped me out of my slumber and made me realise I was a hyper melodramatic drama queen and all I needed was to get out of my bedroom and create a new space for myself,” he wrote.
Farzana became his first real friend and marked the beginning of what Karan called his “journey with friendship”. Nearly five decades later, he said she remains an important part of his life.
“47 years later Farzana is a huge part of my heart even today,” he added.
How Apoorva Mehta Became Karan’s School Friend
Karan then recalled another important friendship that began when he was moved to a different section in the sixth standard because of an administrative error.
Having previously studied in sections 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A, he suddenly found himself placed in 6C, surrounded by unfamiliar classmates.
“I knew no one! I was alone again,” he wrote, joking that his “self pity pro max was back”.
His principal noticed the situation and asked the class who would volunteer to become Karan’s friend. The question, he admitted, was met with an awkward silence.
“She asked again???” he recalled, adding in his trademark dramatic style, “Dig a hole Karan and jump into it.”
Then, as Karan described it, a hand went up under “Mani Ratnam-esque backlight”. The student was Apoorva Mehta, who would go on to become Karan’s closest friend, professional collaborator and the CEO of Dharma Productions.
Apoorva agreed to befriend him but set one condition: “Bring veg snacks from tomorrow.”
Karan joked that this was apparently the only criterion required to begin the friendship.
That schoolyard moment eventually became the foundation of a bond that has lasted through their personal lives and decades of work together at Dharma.
Karan Says His Friends Helped Him Accept Himself
Karan credited those early friendships with changing how he saw himself.
“Post that he made me make many friends and I realised I needed to get over my own complexes,” he wrote, naming his anxieties around his weight, effeminacy and acne.
The filmmaker said he gradually understood that accepting himself was the first step towards being accepted by other people.
“I needed to get over my own complexes and embrace myself and people will then embrace me. I guess it was as simple as that,” he wrote.
Mother Hiroo Johar Spent 15 Days In ICU
The post then shifted to a more recent and difficult chapter in Karan’s life.
He revealed that his mother had spent 15 days in the ICU. While confirming that she is now back home and recovering well, he said the experience made him realise how much love and support surrounded him.
“Recently I was in an ICU for 15 days with my mom. She’s back home and doing well now,” he wrote.
Karan said the crisis reminded him that financial success could never replace the value of genuine relationships.
“No matter what your wealth may be, the only investment that will always reap rich dividends is friendship,” he added.
He thanked his friends for remaining by his side during what he described as his “turbulent days and nights”, promising them his love and loyalty for life.
“My friends today are my family. I am blessed with the best friends anyone can ask for,” he wrote.
‘Pyaar Se Kahi Zyada Dosti Hai’
Karan concluded the note with a playful reference to one of Hindi cinema’s most familiar ideas about love and friendship.
He said he considered ending his message with the “cheesy” line, “Mujhse dosti karoge?”, but joked that his online critics might take offence.
He then turned the popular Kuch Kuch Hota Hai line “Pyaar dosti hai” on its head.
“Pyaar dosti hai is all very well… But I hate to shatter that bubble and say pyaar se kahi zyada dosti hai,” he wrote.
Ending the post with another Friendship Day wish, Karan made it clear that for him, friendship is not secondary to romantic love. It is the relationship that gave him belonging as a child, confidence as a teenager and support during the hardest moments of adulthood.
