Filmmaker Karan Johar has opened up about the challenging experience early in his career and recalled how legendary choreographer Saroj Khan reacted to his involvement during the making of the film. The one who has heart will take the bride away. (DDLJ). In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Johar described the encounter as frightening and emotionally stressful, even though he ultimately acknowledged Saroj Khan’s talent.
Karan Johar says working with ‘scary’ Saroj Khan in DDLJ left him ‘traumatized’
Johar began his career in the film industry as a costume assistant in the 1995 romantic drama, in which he worked with Aditya Chopra and designer Manish Malhotra. Years later, he reflected on the intensity he experienced on set, especially during the filming of the song.apply henna.’
“At that time, costume dada was my biggest collaborator… Manish would come in the morning, hand over the clothes and leave. I was the costume assistant, and Pam Aunty was deeply involved in the process,” Johar recalled, referring to Pamela Chopra’s hands-on role with the costumes.
The problem arose when Saroj Khan requested extra red scarves for the dancers in the middle of the shoot. The team did not have enough fabric, leading Johar to suggest a solution to Saroj’s assistant: “…it would look stylish if the dancers kept one hand in their pocket and a scarf in the other.”
However, when Saroj Khan came to know about this idea she did not accept it. Johar said he “lost it”, immediately demanding red satin clothes or threatening to fire. She later described the incident vividly: “He grabbed me – literally pushed me – and said, ‘Go where you want. Go to Goregaon, bring the red cloth, otherwise I won’t shoot.’ I remember running around the streets of Goregaon with Costume Dada in search of red satin fabric. I was scared for my life. I was in shock. She was horrible.”
Despite the fear he felt at the time, Johar balanced his account by acknowledging Saroj Khan’s skills and contribution to Indian cinema. “She was scary, but she was the best. She didn’t like me at all. She was just unhappy with me,” he said, underscoring the creative intensity she brought to her work.
Johar also shared a light-hearted memory from the same production, which involved his tendency to give unsolicited costume suggestions. During the shooting of ‘When I saw you, I knew it was my love.,’ he playfully made the lead actors wear dungarees – an idea to which Saroj Khan reacted with surprise. “She looked at him and said, ‘Why has this Baba come pretending to be a baby?’ I replied… She would say, ‘Why does he keep talking?’ Because I was always giving my two cents,” he said, laughing.
