Director Onir recalled how supportive filmmaker Karan Johar was of him back in the day, when he not only agreed to watch a cut of the queer-themed My Brother Nikhil, but also recommended that his friend, Aditya Chopra, distribute it. My Brother Nikhil announced Onir’s arrival on the scene, and went on to win two National Film Awards. In an interview, Onir recalled what Karan told him after watching the film when it was being edited, and said that to the filmmaker’s credit, he doesn’t hold grudges.
He told Siddharth Kannan, “I was very scared, Karan is one of the biggest directors. Sanjay Suri invited him to watch the film in the editing room in 2005, when we were trying to find distribution for it. I was so nervous, it was my first film. I kept smoking outside while Karan watched. When he came out, he was crying. He said to me, ‘Onir, I can’t talk to you right now’.”
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Onir continued, “I think Karan cried because he could relate to the film as a human being, as a person, as the story of someone whose stories people don’t speak about. He connected with the relationships, and the film touched him. He was the one who recommended the film to Aditya Chopra, and I’m so lucky to have had my first film be distributed by a banner as big as YRF. I will always be grateful to Karan for having done that, because we were finding it very difficult to get a distributor.”
But recently, Onir couldn’t help but comment about a clash for theatres between Sriram Raghavan’s Merry Christmas and the Karan Johar-produced Yodha. He had written that big filmmakers aren’t as bothered when it comes to independent cinema getting visibility. He was reacting to Karan’s post about not being consulted before a potential box office clash. Asked if he’d met Karan after the incident, Onir said that to the director’s credit, he always meets him warmly.
“Hats off to Karan Johar for that. Whenever he meets me, even after a nasty tweet of mine, he meets with love, and always asks how I’m doing. He doesn’t mix… At the same time, when Rocky Aur Rani comes out, I will write as many good things about the film because it is so progressive,” Onir said.
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