Karan Johar-hosted Koffee With Karan Season 9’s latest episode featured Bollywood’s cutest couple, Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani. The episode had some cutesy moments and some attention-grabbing ones,
and one answer from Sidharth is making a lot of headlines, with netizens convinced that the actor has taken a dig at Kartik Aaryan.
During the rapid-fire round of Koffee With Karan, the filmmaker asked Sidharth what was one thing that Kartik had and he didn’t, and the Shershaah actor didn’t hesitate and quickly said, “Great PR budget that he has.” This remark from the actor has social media users questioning whether Sidharth was taking a dig at Kartik.
One X user wrote, “Sidharth Malhotra just took a massive dig at Kartik Aaryan’s ‘great PR budget.’ He completely mocked paid PR comparing it to just transferring your own funds to another account to fake success.” “Sidharth Malhotra, that’s really a low blow. Kartik Aaryan is the one who’s investing heavily in paid PRs. It’s like he’s spending his own money on it rather than on something useful. Kiara Advani and Karan Johar reacted as if they’d never done paid promotions for themselves,” wrote another user. While a third one commented, “Oh my god! Karan Johar and Sidharth Malhotra both COOKED Kartik Aaryan over PR budget.”
Sidharth also spoke about his thoughts on paid PR. While speaking to KJO, he said, “Paid PR, I feel, is unnecessary at times. It’s like if I’m transferring funds from one account of my own to another account.”
Karan further added, “Like one morning you pay yourself one crore. Like I’m richer by a crore, but you only gave it. It’s stupid.”
About Koffee With Karan
Hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar, Koffee With Karan is one of India’s most popular celebrity chat shows. It first premiered in 2004 and features Bollywood stars discussing their careers, relationships, friendships and personal lives over a cup of coffee. The show is known for its rapid-fire round, where guests answer questions about fellow celebrities, and the Koffee hamper awarded to the winner. Season 9, which premiered on October 14, 2026, is the show’s final season, bringing its 22-year run to an end. It streams on JioHotstar through The Peacock Hub.
