Mumbai: Prominent Bollywood producer and director Karan has spoken out against actors using public relations and paid promotions to look more popular.
When asked about young stars like Janhvi Kapoor and Shanaya Kapoor, he didn’t hold back. The DDLJ fame producer also warned that the industry is becoming way too dependent on these manufactured images. Johar’s message is simple-Actors should spend more time perfecting their acting and less time worrying about their public relations teams and let their work speak for themselves.
‘Need to move away from excessive PR’
In a recent interaction with The Week, the filmmaker said, “I think Bollywood should stop doing PR. It will be much better. They should let their achievement speak for itself because unfortunately all of the PR is now paid PR. If you want to say ‘you are looking gorgeous’ you just have to pay.
Karan Johar further emphasised, “If you want to say that you are the best actor on planet earth, you have to pay. So, I think we are on over drive mode when it comes to PR. So, whether they are doing ‘method marketing’ or not is secondary. They should stop marketing themselves and let their work speak for themselves.”
The filmmaker also told The Week, “I don’t mean the people you are talking about, i mean… everyone in general.. because I think PR is being done excessively. There’s a certain way of doing it. Publicity, marketing…. these are very important work categories, and this should be treated in that specific way.”
‘Why AI can never replace cinema’
Karan Johar strongly believes that cinema is here to stay because technology can never truly copy the human heart. Even though people once feared that television, streaming, sports and now Artificial Intelligence would destroy the movie industry, he argues that these things are not real threats to the big screen.
Johar believes the core of cinema is the art of emotional storytelling the unique way a movie can make an audience feel deep joy or sadness. Since AI and machines do not have real feelings or life experiences, Johar insists they can never replace the powerful, human connection that a great film creates. He also mentioned that the ‘Koffee with karan’ season 9 will be on air during Diwali 2026.
(Curated by: Faiza Nazar)
