Karan Johar has always lured audiences by telling complexly realistic stories in a simple yet startling manner. And the latest addition to his list of stunners is ‘My name is Khan’, which has won him rave reviews for his filmmaking prowess, while proving to be a huge box-office hit overseas.

In a recent interview the producer-director even voiced his constant endeavor to make films that are fundamentally ingrained in realism.

Karan talks on MNIK and Shahrukh
Responding to the question about his theme in films, Karan stated, “World realities excite me. While films mean a lot of entertainment, they must have an element of reality as well.”

Set in post 9/11, the plotline of ‘My name is Khan’ revolves around U.S. homeland security and terrorism, where the hero who suffers from Asperger syndrome, is detained by airport authorities, presupposing him to be a terrorist because of his disability.

Interestingly, even in reality Shahrukh was detained for hours in the U.S. because of his name.

Whether this stirred him to add a similar incident in the film later is anyone’s guess, however, Karan denied this, “Oh… that bit was inserted in the movie way before the incident happened. It was sheer coincidence.”

Answering to the question about what hit him to come with a novel film for his mentor Shahrukh Khan, Karan responded, “Shahrukh is like a father figure to me. He has seen me through good and bad times. He’s family to me.”

When it comes to the working atmosphere when Shahrukh and Kajol are around, it is their high-degree of comfort levels with each other that translates to such a great product in the end. “We know about each other body language and our respect for spaces, that makes us a complete team,” elaborated Karan.

Karan’s most memorable film
However Karan only pins ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ as his most memorable film as it is still very close to his heart, the film being his first, and feels that it has a lot of innocence about it.

But he admits that ‘Dostana,’ too, was authentic and was laden with realism.

Currently busy with his new TV show ‘Lift Kara de’, Karan believes that it would do well just like his earlier show ‘Koffee with Karan’ which was a big hit.

He stated, “It’s something that’s happening. It’s real and could happen to any one of us, I hope to rope in the biggest names on the show. It’s for a noble cause and I don’t want to disappoint the umpteen fans.”