Hey Karan Johar, Why Apologise When You Could Have Just...

Karan Johar, sometimes sorry is not the best solution.

After 30 days of Uri attack (18 September), 20 days (29 September) of surgical strike and just 10 days before the release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (28 October), Karan Johar finally broke his silence. On Tuesday, the filmmaker pleaded with our nationalists to allow his film to be released without any goonda-gardi.

In a black t-shirt, sitting in a dark room, (which looks nothing less than an interrogation room), Karan Johar is seen pleading ‘not-guilty' for his film in front of the ‘desh bhakts’. His crime: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil stars the popular Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in a few scenes.

KJo waited long enough (a month) hoping for the winds to change, but instead, got knocked down.

So what does Karan do? He gets up, dusts off the dirt and apologises for standing in the way of the blizzard.

Was it the right thing to do? Maybe it was for Dharma productions, as their financial interest would have suffered. Money kamana hai mushkil!

But was it the best way to handle the matter? NOPE.

Sorry Karan, but you could have dealt with the situation in a more intelligent way, rather than cowardly raising the white flag.

I know, I know. You must be thinking we are stupid because there is no sane way to deal with hyper-nationalists. But Karan, you’ll be surprised.

PM’s Relief Fund for Indian Martyrs

You could have thrown the ball back into your opponents’ court and said that proceeds from half of all the tickets sold in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and parts of Karnataka, where Cinema Owners Association of India (COAI) said they will not screen it in single-screen theatres, would be contributed to the PM’s Relief Fund for Indian Martyrs.

It’s all about loving your nation. Clever!

What’s in a Single Screen

Let’s admit the fact that you were never a single-screen guy. You’ve always been into multiplexes. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, My Name Is Khan, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kal Ho Naa Ho — they are all primarily multiplex films with big audiences across the world.

So what scares you, buddy?

You’ve got a good film, we hope. With a superb cast, why not just relax and release the film, and be confident that you’ll pull it off. That, my friend, would have been an ‘in-your-face’ moment for your boycotters.

After seeing the success of the film, the cinema owners’ association may have been forced to retract their decision.

Unity, Unity, Unity

As you rightly said, over 300 Indians in your crew have put their blood, sweat and tears into the film and it’s not fair to them. So didn’t you ever think of organising different unions in Bollywood to come out and stand united?

You could have reminded the ‘sons of the soil’ who threatened to disrupt the film that beyond the few Pakistani actors, the technicians, the cameramen, spot boys etc are probably Marathi Manoos — the pride of Marathas. Their livelihood depends upon the success of the film.

At the end of the day, these are the people who go out and vote and no political party would want to lose out on their vote banks.

Time is the Best Healer

There have been times when Viacom18’s office was threatened because they had a couple of Pakistani artistes in Bigg Boss. However, they went ahead with the show, and everything was soon forgotten by those who were protesting.

In 2012, Viacom 18’s Ville Parle office was vandalised by the Swaraj Sena because Colors channel was running a musical reality show called 'Sur Kshetra' — a musical competition between teams from Pakistan and India. However, the show completed its run, that too with Nabeel Shaukat Ali from Pakistan winning the title.

Basically Karan, if anybody could have stood up to the “bullies” here, it was you.

Mind you, these are the same bullies, who can’t even ‘bully’ the Marathi Manoos to vote for them and get them to win elections.