Godfather of star kids Karan Johar is well known for his larger-than-life films which are oftentimes detached from the reality a middle-class man witnesses in his daily journey. The actor made his mark as a director in 1998 with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherji in lead roles. The film had been a hit and for most 90s kids it is a major nostalgia. Back then we loved the film but didn't care to explore that it was problematic when it came to its portrayal of women characters.
In an era where youngsters are fighting against body-shaming, skin-shaming, fat-shaming, patriarchy, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai didn't care about anything at all. Anjali, who was smart, intelligent, clever, had to step out from college because she felt she wasn't good enough for Rahul, who was madly infatuated with Tina's beauty. Tina, on the other hand, was a character well-written and was quite ahead of her times.
When Rahul was narcissistic bully, a random freak insulting her father, the principal of the college, she never encouraged his so-called 'cool' behaviour; a tag line he carried out even in his chain. It was when she got a glimpse of Rahul's softer side, (the man who visits the temple secretly, who cares to respect women) that was when she allowed Rahul to enter her life, but not at the cost of ruining another friendship. Tina may have sniggered at her friend when Anjali chose to dress hideously, but she made it her duty to console the friend, who made sure she was comfortable in college, since the first day of her arrival.
You can still forgive Rahul for being a shallow person in college, (because let's face it, college is the era to make mistakes), but when Rahul chose to win Anjali's heart by humiliating her in front on his daughter and other children at the summer camps, there was a major toxic masculinity lingering around and it's a shame that Karan Johar never felt that there was something wrong with this behaviour.
Karan Johar in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham
In his next directorial Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, he treated Anjali with a little more respect. Here, a more matured Rahul fell for her originality, when he accidentally met her during the celebration of India's win at the cricket match. A chirpy Anjali was more involved in enjoying the big win of her country, and she didn't dance around to impress some guy. This Anjali was a middle-class girl with the right kind of sanskaar. A sanskaar, which tells younger ones to take care of the parents, to love the country and not make judgments based on the clothes worn by the women in the family. Rahul here was more lovable. He loved Anjali for her soul and chose not to lie when it came to relationships. He stood by Anjali through thick and thin and thereby set new standards for couples.
In 2003, Kal Ho Naa Ho released and while you want to laud Karan Johar for finally exploring the mind of a woman who lives in a dysfunctional family, you realise at some point the film is extremely problematic when it comes to treating the women characters. Naina perpetually fat-shamed Sweetu and expected her to behave in a manner she found suitable, instead of accepting her with her flaws, and Aman emotionally manipulated Naina to make her fall in love with Rahul.
As much as we enjoyed the song, 'It's the time to disco,' the film would have been more progressive had Naina decided to walk out of the Disco or just have shots at her own free will, instead of trying to make a point to Aman that she can be a fun girl too. But we are impressed with Naina when she comes to know about the '6 din larki in,' strategy and decides to reciprocate in the right manner. She didn't succumb to the world of men but made her point loud and clear.
While the relationship between the trio (Aman, Naina, Rahul) was quite problematic in several ways, Naina's relationship with her mother Jennifer was an extremely comfortable watch. Jennifer lead a troubled life before the arrival of Aman in the neighbourhood. Her business was down, her morning began with off-tune bhajaans and ended with a regular quarrel with her mother-in-law. Despite the lack of financial and emotional support she chose not to shatter, even when it came to communicating with her husband's love-child. Even in the toughest of times, she chose to support her daughter.
In 2006 when Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna released it was more than shocking that Karan Johar chose to touch such an uncomfortable topic where romance king Shah Rukh Khan was seen cheating on his wife. (This was a film which released after Kal Ho Naa Ho became a hit, hence the Aman-Naina hangover was still there.) For the first time, Karan Johar turned the gossip of the page-3 columns into a cinematic reality and while many were not ready to come to terms with their darling romance king Shah Rukh Khan cheating on the wife, it was one of the bravest films ever directed by Karan Johar. Initially, Kajol was in talks for this role, and if that would have been true, imagine the trauma SRK-Kajol fans would have had to witness about the reality of Raj-Simran relationship where they fell in love without having a proper conversation with each other.
After a series of less successful attempts, in 2012 Student of the Year happened and three talents, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra were launched. This was a school where people competed in games such as treasure hunting, prom-dancing, races, to get into colleges...maybe even Ivy Leagues. But this was a Karan Johar movie, so let facts and reality be distorted who cares? Right. Most of us were so blinded by the glamour in the film that we failed to notice the better side of the story structure where Shanaya, the lead female character, chose to stay with a guy who respected her and loved her for who she was. When it came to choosing between rockstar Rohan Nanda, who had uncountable wealth and Abhimanyu Singh, the orphan boy with no inheritance Shanaya chose to stay with the lesser fortunate man, because the latter treated her with love and respect while Rohan only used her to maintain an image about dating the best girl in school. An important criterion which got overshadowed.
It was from this year till his later films such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya, Good Newwz, Raazi where we witnessed that Karan had remained careful with the women characters in the film. They danced, they laughed but they were never changed themselves to reach the shallow standards of the man.
