Karan Johar has spent nearly three decades creating some of Bollywood’s most memorable love stories. But behind the glitz and success, the filmmaker admits to feeling a deep sense of loneliness — even in moments of triumph. In a heartfelt conversation with Sania Mirza for Myntra, Karan opened up about his emotional journey, reflecting on how winning two National Awards — first for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and recently for Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani — brought him very different kinds of feelings.
Karan Johar on loneliness
“Har Kisiko Nahi Milta Pyaar Zindagi Mein,” he quoted, pausing to recall the moment the award call came through. “You feel the loneliest in your highs and not your lows,” he told Mirza. “In your lows you have your family, friends, parents and kids. I have two cousin sisters I am very close to, I have my best friends. But in your highs what do you do? I remember I received a call that I was getting a National Award. I hung up the call and the first thing I thought about was, ‘What do I do tonight? Whose house do I go to? Whose hand do I hold? A little pat on the back I needed and wanted to feel happy.’”
He described the awards night in Delhi as a stark reminder of that isolation. “When I went to the awards, they asked me who my plus one was, and I didn’t have anybody. Everybody was discussing all this with their partners, and my mom was not well enough to travel and my kids were too young. It hits you hard.”
Karan Johar on companionship and dating pressure
Karan admitted he has navigated phases of yearning for companionship. “I am okay now. There was a time when I wanted love, a partner and companionship. I went through all kinds of dynamics — a broken heart, made a film, it helped me heal. I had my doubts if people will accept me for who I am.”
He also spoke frankly about modern dating pressures and the baffling advice to “put yourself out there.” “Everyone tells you to put yourself out there. I am still trying to know where that ‘there’ is. They say ‘go abroad’ — where in abroad?”
Small domestic routines, he said, amplify the longing. “Eating alone also makes you feel lonely. A lot of times I don’t go to the dining table because it makes me feel worse, I eat in my room. I watch something to dilute the nothingness. A partner’s love is completely different from your parents’ and kids’. It’s not about intimacy. It’s about partnership. People are supposed to be a unit of two — we were never meant to fly solo. Maybe rab ne yeh jodi mere liye nahi banayi.”
"Don't want to impose myself on friends"
The director confessed how public displays of affection grate on him: “So many times I feel lonely and want to call someone. I have too many friends to call, but they are all married so I don’t want to be a burden or impose myself on them, so I go to all single people because they can understand my situation. New Years are irritating. I never want to go out with couples. And anybody who does PDA in front of me, I feel like killing them. I’m like, ‘Please get a room!’”
At 53, Johar remains open to the possibilities that life might hold. “They say never say never and if it happens, my arms are wide open like Shah Rukh Khan. I have made the best love stories but unfortunately there is no love for myself.”