Karan Johar defends 'grey' content in films and OTT: 'Life is way beyond black or white'

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who has enjoyed immense success in cinema and OTT alike, believes that content is powerful these days and there is nothing wrong living in the grey. Karan along with Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh, the lead pair of his upcoming film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, was interacting with students and media persons at an event as part of India’s International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) Back To School series.

When asked about cinema and OTT content influencing the young and impressionable minds, and redefining the cultural fabric of our society, Karan said, "What a load question to begin with. I have to be critical to answer this from a honest place. I do believe that cinema is a reflection of society and vice-versa. Cinema also draws from the society, literally. Sometimes, let’s just say there is an exaggeration in Indian cinema, but a lot of situations depicted on celluloid are actually very close to reality."

"And as a filmmaker, I have only drawn from human observation. From the observation of the community that surrounds me, the society we live in, the people we interact with, it is very critical that you understand the syntax of your surroundings and only then as a writer or filmmaker you tell the story".

The filmmaker added, "Of course, some of us who have grown up in urban India have a certain understanding of those dynamics and relationships, and there are some others, who are privileged, have been exposed to the rest of India and who can tell those stories with equal abundance. I do believe that the content today is definitely broadening the human spectrum of relationships and pushing the envelope, by not sugar-coating it or doing puff pieces of love and romance. We are showing the grey areas, and you have to know, especially as students, that life is way beyond black or white."

"Walking the path of grey every day, it is not a bad thing, because grey is the actual representation of your vulnerable side, of your true side. And I think whether it's OTT platforms or new-age cinema, all of them expose the vulnerabilities of human beings and that is the strength of our content today", Karan concluded.

Also starring Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, and Shabana Azmi, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is slated to hit the theatres on July 28.

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