Rahul, heir to the Raichand dynasty, visits Delhi’s crowded Chandni Chowk neighbourhood, where he sees the love of his life, Anjali, for the first time. She is dancing on the street, without inhibitions and full of glee. He does a double-take and nearly misses his step. As Rahul watches Anjali (Kajol), time slows down and the film’s dreamy theme music plays in the background while the camera focuses on his lovestruck face. The film is Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2001, and Rahul is played by Shah Rukh Khan. Khan, in collaboration with director Karan Johar, would redefine the romantic hero as a man who isn’t afraid of being vulnerable, who revels in the chemistry that is sparked by a feisty, independent-spirited woman.
To understand how unusual this was for those times, consider the second-highest grossing film of that year, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001). In it, we’re introduced to the lead pair when Sakina (Ameesha Patel) literally throws herself at Tara’s (Sunny Deol) feet, begging him to save her from the goons chasing her. Tara immediately adopts a protective, almost paternalistic stance, putting his arms around Sakina and establishing himself as her saviour. When bellowing at them doesn’t yield results, Tara threatens to violently behead anyone who hurt her.
It’s as stark a contrast as possible between two leading men from the same film industry in the same year.
There’s something special about a Karan Johar romantic hero. The men Johar has given us rarely brandish the machismo, bravado or aggression associated with the majority of Bollywood’s heroes. Johar, who has spoken about how he always felt different from other boys growing up, has consistently showcased men’s softer side. When he first meets conflicted bride-to-be Maya (Rani Mukerji) in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), Shah Rukh Khan’s Dev offers her heartfelt advice on love and life. “What can be better than spending your entire life with your friend?” he remarks, before asking her if she’s truly in love with her fiancé. Sure, it’s verging on mansplaining, but the exchange also emphasises how Johar’s films are about lovers for whom camaraderie is as important as desire.
Rahul Khanna (Shah Rukh Khan) expresses a similar sentiment in Johar’s debut film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), when he confidently defines love as friendship: “If she can’t be my best friend, I can’t be in love with her.” The recurrence of friendship as a theme in Johar’s love stories speaks to an inherent yearning for companionship and intimacy that doesn’t hinge on the typical power dynamic between straight couples where the man holds more power than the woman. Johar’s leading men are portrayed as seeking a partner, in every sense of the word.
That’s not to say that they are necessarily perfect. When asked on Nikhil Taneja’s ‘Be A Man, Yaar!’ podcast if he would do anything differently with his male characters, Johar said, “Absolutely. I think the gender politics of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai are very flawed,” referring to the film’s oft-criticised arc in which Rahul fails to see Anjali in a romantic light until she conforms to conventional beauty standards. “I would actually never want to do that again, because that was me just being impressionable by Hindi cinema. I was only trained by Hindi cinema,” Johar said. The director, who described himself as being raised on Bollywood love stories like Silsila (1981), Chandni (1989) and Lamhe (1991), said he was informed by this tradition in his early films. There’s a moment in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham when Rahul protectively places his hand over Anjali’s head, taking responsibility for her after the death of her father. It’s not unlike the opening scene of Gadar in sentiment, albeit with far less testosterone riddling it.
However, even when it seems like Johar’s romantic heroes are a product of their time, these men stand apart from the rest. At one point in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Dev ropes in a random man on the streets of New York City to weigh in on his and Maya’s debate on marriage. When the stranger says, “I’m not married, I’m gay,” Dev claps him on the shoulder, laughs and says, “Good for you!” It’s a throwaway moment that is meaningful in a time when using homosexuality as a punching bag was all too common in mainstream Hindi cinema. For Dev to respond as he did was as unusual as it was refreshing.
Johar’s romantic heroes have always been made more appealing by virtue of the space given to the women in his films. Whether it’s Tina (Rani Mukerji) in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Riya (Preity Zinta) in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, the women in Johar’s films have never been ornamental, frequently playing a key role in making the hero the best version of himself. “Luckily for me, I was raised by very evolved women. My feminine side has also lent itself to me being a feminist. I am a proud feminist,” said the director, in his conversation with Taneja. While the women he writes are presumably informed by this, Johar’s feminism is equally evident in the men he writes, like in his most recent film, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023).
At the start of the film, Rocky Randhawa (Ranveer Singh) is almost the opposite of the suave, elite hero that is the Johar standard. Full of swagger, over-the-top posturing and unpolished charm, Rocky is rich, but not elite. His language is coarse, he’s far from politically correct, and he has grown up adhering to traditional notions of gender roles. His clash with the diametrically different Rani Chatterjee (Alia Bhatt) and her family comes to a head when Rocky thoughtlessly laughs along with the rest of the audience at the sight of Rani’s father dancing kathak. Yet when he’s schooled, Rocky doesn’t react defensively. Instead, he confesses to his ignorance and Johar films this in a way that doesn’t diminish either Rocky or the Chatterjees. “There are so many men who don’t know better because they have been trained to be a certain kind of person,” said Johar on Taneja’s podcast. “Rocky is very much that guy who admits that ‘I don’t know better.’ He says things in that monologue which has resonated with so many male members of the audience. It is only because I believe it myself.”
Johar also has the ability to make the male gaze feel pleasurable rather than sleazy. Just as the “What Jhumka?” song sequence winds down in Rocky Aur Rani, the music swells to the spirited strains of “Ve Kamleya”. As Rocky watches Rani dance, we get a quintessential ‘Karan Johar hero falling in love’ moment, complete with slow-motion and a moment in which we see the heroine through the hero’s eyes. It’s reminiscent of Rahul first laying eyes on Anjali in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham; and Abhimanyu (Siddharth Mahotra) looking at Shanaya (Alia Bhatt) wearing her earring in Student of the Year (2012). The gaze is characterised by a gentleness and a desire that doesn’t feel brazen; it’s a gaze that makes you wish you were being seen that way.
Ever since his debut in 1998, Johar has specialised in larger-than-life narratives steeped in the cultural tradition of the great Indian family. But between Raichand Estate and Randhawa Paradise, the director has come a long way. “There’s obviously been an evolution in these 25 years—the 25-year-old who made Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the 51-year-old who directed Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, I feel, are diametrically two different people,” said Johar to Forbes India. Amidst the elaborate set pieces, glamorous costumes and cookie-cutter romances, Johar has been quietly pushing the envelope with his depiction of masculinity; whether it’s a vulnerable single father finding love again, a broken man who finds love outside a miserable marriage, or a flawed man who is willing to set aside all his prejudices for the woman he loves. The director’s leading men are singularly easy to root for, and even easier to fall in love with. Because there’s something special about a Karan Johar romantic hero.