Karan Johar admitted in an interview that he is asked about updates on his chat show Koffee with Karan more than his films. Over the last decade-and-a-half, Karan has become one of the foremost interviewers in the entertainment industry, thanks to the controversial talk show, which returned for a seventh season last week.
In an interview leading up to the show’s premiere, he spoke about tricks of the trade, and revealed how to handle guests with different personalities. He was asked, in particular, about Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar.
He told Bollywood Hungama, “I believe in the power of listening, and the power of reading the room, and then taking the interview forward. Sometimes, you know that the actor is being held back, so you open them up slowly. Or sometimes, an actor is talking too much, so you take them another way. Sometimes, you have two people, so you divide that, to make sure the conversation is not focused on one person. A lot has to go on in your own brain when you’re doing an interview.”
Asked how he handles contrasting personalities like Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar, Karan said, “You know that Ajay Devgn is a deeply intense, private and silent man, but he’ll say one word and it’ll be impactful. You have to make sure that the conversation gives him that ability, that strength. Because he says one line, and that line will be a trending line. He’s a very well-spoken man. Akshay is a lot of fun. He comes alive with the guest next to him. We’ve had Akshay with Tina, his wife. It was a riot. We’ve had him with Ranveer Singh, it was a riot. And trust me, his episode with Samantha is another riot.”
The debut episode of Koffee with Karan season 7 featured guests Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, who spoke about their tight friendship and their respective partners, Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor. Ranveer also entertained audiences with his mimicry of actors such as Aamir Khan, Kartik Aaryan and Varun Dhawan. Koffee with Karan will return with a second episode on Thursday. Akshay will be paired with Samantha Ruth Prabhu in an upcoming episode.
