Devil's Advocate Special: Question time for 'devil'

KARAN WITH KARAN: Filmmaker Karan Johar (L) questions Karan Thapar in a 'Devil's Advocate' special.

        

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Keywords: Karan Thapar, Karan Johar

Karan Thapar: There is a lady I have persisted with, trying to get hold of her many, many times but for the last six years she has avoided me.

Karan Johar: Sushma Swaraj?

Karan Thapar: That is right, you are intuitive. There were years previously when she would give interviews and I have had several from the past.

Karan Johar: What did you do?

Karan Thapar: I will tell you what I did wrong. She once walked up to me and mistook me for Aroon Purie (owner and editor-in-chief of India Today). She did this repeatedly over a period of eight-nine months and then we met at Sanjeev Goenka’s home—it was a dinner for Benazir Bhutto—and I was standing with Aroon Purie. She walked straight up to Aroon Purie and said: “Karan Thapar, I have got it right this time.” Aroon Purie looked at me and said: “no, no, that is Karan.” After that she has never given me an interview.

Karan Johar: Any one from my industry that hasn’t spoken to you?

Karan Thapar: There is a gentleman who hasn’t spoken to me for 10 years but he used to give me several interviews before that. In fact, we did a wonderful interview with him on his 50th birthday. In those days I used to do a video magazine called Eyewitness.

Karan Johar: Amitabh Bachchan?

Karan Thapar: He is now 60-plus but in those days he was 50 and we did this amazing interview with him for Eyewitness. It was a one-hour long interview, and during one of the tape changes, he told me about a story about a Warren Beatty interview he had seen a couple of years ago where Warren Beatty had been questioned very aggressively about the women in his life. And Amitabh said that he really thought this was the right way to do things.

I said to myself: am I being given a message? When the tape was put back on I said you just told me the story about Warren Beatty, so can I take a leaf out of your book and ask you about the women in your life. I asked him about Rekha, he said no; then I asked him about Parveen Babi and he said no.

Then sitting beside him in the shot was his wife and I turned to Jaya (Bachchan) and asked: do you believe that? She said she did and he immediately said you are saying that because you are on camera.

I thought that is exactly what he wanted and intended, but he was unfortunately very upset and since then, despite my attempts to apologise, to make up for it, and atone for it he has never forgiven me.

Karan Johar: Well I don’t blame him.

Karan Thapar: Except that I was taking a leaf out of his book. He was telling me a story.

Karan Johar: After that there has been no interview with Amitabh Bachchan?

Karan Thapar: Not since then—no communication, no interview, nothing whatsoever. I have had couple of conversations with his wife and she has always been very sweet and charming. I would like this occasion to say to him that I didn’t intend anything mean and nasty. Perhaps I was too clever by half. If he was 50 then I was 36 at that time, so you can perhaps pit it at my immature age.