Director Karan Johar, who is well known for helming classics such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and My Name Is Khan, recently lashed out at a social media user who called him the "nanny of nepo kids." Standing strong, Johar demanded less toxicity on the internet.
The remark was posted under an Instagram post made by Johar on Monday, where he heaped laurels on the lead couple of the recently launched romantic film Saiyaara — Ahaan Panday, who made his debut with the film, and Aneet Padda, who appeared in the series Big Girls Don't Cry and Kajol-starrer Salaam Venky.
Directed by Mohit Suri, Saiyaara hit theatres on July 18 and has been receiving strong appreciation from audiences. Johar hailed the film as Suri’s finest directorial effort yet, expressing his admiration in an emotional note on Instagram.
But, in the midst of the flattery, one of the users made a snarky comment about Johar, saying, "A gaya nepo kid ka daijaan (here comes the nanny of nepo kids)." Not to be silenced, Johar retorted with a biting reply:
"Chup kar!!! Ghar baithe baithe negativity mat paal! Do bachon ka kaam dekh !! Aur khud kuch kaam kar"
("Shut up! Don't indulge in negativity while sitting at home doing nothing. Observe the work of these two young actors and take effort to do something constructive yourself.")
Johar has long been the prime target of the nepotism controversy in Bollywood, being accused of promoting industry people like Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, and Ananya Panday. Nevertheless, he remains committed to launching new talent.
Saiyaara opened well at the box office, raking in ₹21.25 crore on the opening day. The movie now is the highest opening day ever for a film starring debutantes, the largest first-day collection ever by director Suri, and the highest debut-day collection ever for a romantic film. Made by Yash Raj Films (YRF), it is an intense love story of a new couple.
While that is happening, Johar is getting ready to produce his next, Dhadak 2, coming out on August 1. Shazia Iqbal is directing the film, featuring Tripti Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi. Johar is the producer along with Hiroo Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Somen Mishra, Adar Poonawalla, Umesh Bansal, and Meenu Arora.
