Karan Johar claims many in Bollywood are "living in delusion" and discusses industry realities

Karan Johar, who restored his father’s production company Dharma Productions with hits like 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham', and 'Kal Ho Naa Ho', recently reflected on his journey. Despite his fame and success, he felt more fortunate than talented until his 2010 film 'My Name Is Khan' made him believe in his abilities as a director.
Talking to Komal Nahta on his YouTube channel Game Changer, Karan Johar said, “The film (My Name Is Khan) was beyond my talent and outside the scope. It was beyond my ability and style. I personally felt this was a film that Mani Ratnam should have directed. I took it up as a challenge. It was at this moment when I saw a couple of shots and scenes from the film and believed that I should continue my job as a director.” “It was after My Name Is Khan I believed in me that I knew my job,” said the filmmaker.
He added, “It was after all those years that I thought that maybe I deserve all the love I get. I am realist. I strongly believed that I was lucky. I was born to a wonderful man (Yash Johar), who had goodwill. His good karma worked for me. Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra supported me so much. I never believed that I deserved it, but one day on the sets of My Name Is Khan, I thought ‘Maybe I know my job.’ I have always believed that I have been more fortunate than talented.”
Johar also took a dig at industry insiders who are “living in delusion" and shared, “I am realist and I am not deluded. Delusion is a disease for which there is no vaccination. If only I had that vaccine, I would have given it to several people in this industry. They are all living in delusion. We should all write letters to these deluded people but we can’t as this is an extremely small industry. Democratic.”
Talking about himself, the filmmaker said, “I am not deluded. I am very much aware of my films and know reasons behind why some of them worked and some of them didn’t. I am very aware of my mistakes. I am 80% realistic. Sometimes I don’t understand these people. I don’t understand whether they are lying to themselves or they believe that they made a great film. In reality, it is not. We need to understand if a film didn’t work or its bad. They say people didn’t understand it.”