The coffee has started brewing, as Karan Johar returns with the brand new season of Koffee With Karan which starts streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from July 7. The new season will see some of India’s biggest film celebrities share the couch. In an exclusive conversation with News18.com, Karan talks about what makes the show so popular, why celebrities open up to him about their personal lives so easily and make the juiciest confessions on the show, and whether he’s a fan of coffee. Excerpts from the interview:
Karan, are you a big coffee fan?
No, I am not such a big coffee fan. I drink a lot of tea. Sometimes I sip on Frappuccino. I like cold coffee, but don’t prefer it hot.
So, what is there in your mug that you keep sipping on the show?
It’s not coffee. There is a lot of diet coke in my coffee mug (laughs).
It’s been 18 years and seven seasons of Koffee With Karan, how do you think you have evolved as a chat show host?
When I look back at the first season, I feel like I was an innocent child with so much curiosity. I was like an elocutionist asking questions. I just got easier and easier with every season. I just became more me over the years. I was still putting on a front in the first two seasons but if you see the last season, that’s me. If I laugh, I do it unabashedly and if I am shocked my eyes go up. This is as close to who I am in my real life.
And how has the show progressed in seven seasons?
It’s guilty pleasure viewing. Many can call it a frivolous watch and I won’t disagree with them because we are not talking about anything that makes a difference to the world. This is what yo call a quintessential time pass viewing. You watch it, enjoy it and forget about it. And I am also not expecting you’ll to sit and remember it. So I feel the show has got even more relaxed just like I have.
But there has to be something that clicks. There are many people who revisit the show on YouTube or Disney+ Hotstar and watch the old episodes or rapid fire rounds. What according to you clicks with the audience?
People have watched and loved it because it is a relaxation viewing. I also feel it is the comfort that I share with the guests. I believe the audience likes to voyeur into the celebrities drawing room conversation. It doesn’t feel like we are recording a show or there are cameras around us when we are talking. People get that candour, casualness and ease of me with my guests and I believe that’s what they like about the show.
Apart from the candour and casualness, a lot of people like to watch the show for the juicy gossips and controversies and the rumours…
If people want to look at it in that way then so be it. I look at it where I am having fun with people on the couch. Yes, I am diving into their personal lives but I don’t ask anything that is not already in the public domain. It’s just that the answers are interesting and even the celebrities deny, it becomes interesting. I guess people come to watch that. The sauciness, the sexiness and the gossip elements are all there. I don’t think there are any grand revelations made on the show. It’s the way the celebs put it out which they might not with anyone else.
And why do you think these stars are so unabashed on the show?
I think because they are comfortable and they know me socially and we are all part of the same fraternity. I am a people’s person and I like interacting with everyone so many of them are comfortable. I have grown up with many of them or I have worked closely with them and had many causal chats so it becomes a lot easier.
At the same time, there are a lot of controversies because of which a few celebrities aren’t open to coming on the show. Ranbir Kapoor denied to appear on the show and you also came out with a funny teaser which showed you begging to celebs to come on your show. Does it bother when a celebrity refuses to come on the show?
Ranbir genuinely feels that if he comes on the show, he will land in trouble. He says that the show haunts him for many years (laughs). There are some actors who are private people and don’t want to come and I am absolutely fine with it. I have heard many yes’s and no’s so I am okay with it because many people are aware of the format of the show which is invasive and I do ask certain questions about their personal lives and professional insecurities. There are many leading star who feel awkward to talk about this. So I don’t want anyone to come who is uncomfortable.
In the last two seasons, people felt that the show also became a platform for film promotions. What do you have to say about it?
Even if it has come around as film promotions and we have a couple of them in the new season, I don’t really talk about the film for more than a minute and the entire show is for 45 minutes. Just because the two actors of an upcoming film are coming together makes it look like a film promotions then people can look at it in that way. This is definitely not a show that I use it for film promotions.
What is going to be different in the seventh season?
There is one aspect in the rapid-fire which is going to be different and I don’t want to reveal it till the time the first episode comes out. Apart from that the show is pretty much the same thing. I feel when one thing is working then I don’t want to shake it up unnecessarily. Also there won’t be any ad breaks since we are streaming on Disney+ Hotstar so the audience can have a non-stop viewing.
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