The dream merchants: Barjatya & Johar

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For most of us, Bollywood films are perhaps a pleasant escape from our boring lives, an opportunity to unwind, to be entertained and most importantly to dream.

CNN-IBN Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand spoke to the dream merchants of this make-believe world, the craftsmen who add colour to our humble imagination — Sooraj Barjatya and Karan Johar, two of India’s biggest filmmakers who are as different as chalk and cheese.

But despite their obvious dissimilarities there is much that they have in common.

Sooraj Barjatya’s ultimate family drama Hum Aapke Hain Kaun was the one film that broke Sholay’s box office record crossing a Rs 100 crore collection in the country for the first time.

And Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna emerged as unquestionably the most widely discussed film of the year.

He moved away from his own tried and tested formula and ventured into areas he had never tackled before with this film.

Rajeev Masand: The two of you know each other well, yet you people don’t meet often. Why is that?

Karan Johar: I think Sooraj ji is not like me. I am very largely a page three person. But I think Sooraj ji is quite introverted in that respect.

Rajeev Masand: Many months ago we asked Karan Johar about the one film that changed his life. And the answer he gave was completely surprising.

He said, "After seeing Hum Aapke Hain Kaun I realized Indian cinema is about values, tradition, subtlety, romance. There is so much soul in it. After watching this film I got the answers to all the questions I had in my mind. I decided to go ahead and be a filmmaker only after watching this film." What do you have to say to that?

Sooraj Barjatya: It feels really great to know that I have been a part of Karan Johar’s success. I admire Karan for his simplicity. I remember he came to me after writing the script of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.

He sat next to me and narrated me the entire three-hour long script. I was filled with tears at the end. Though we don’t meet often, the very fact that he came to me to narrate his script, makes me feel proud.