Why Karan Johar should have said those three words

"Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don't need to scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won't only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I, Karan Johar, will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me." These were sentences from an excerpt of filmmaker Karan Johar's forthcoming biography The Unsuitable Boy that grabbed headlines three days ago. For the right as well as wrong reasons. 

KJo might have candidly come out in front of people but he stopped right short of a bold admission. "Karan Johar will not say the three words," he said. But why? Because of the fear of being jailed? While many have applauded the director for his brave attempt, a particular section, including the LGBT community, has slammed his veiled coming out and claimed that it sets a wrong example for every closeted person trying to come out. 

Although it's completely a matter of his choice — whether to address it and even how to do it — where Karan went completely wrong in his admission was claiming that he'd be jailed for coming out openly. That is not a crime. Not even according to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. 

So has this 'almost' coming out really helped Johar or the community whose causes he's so passionately driven by? The answer is no. When Karan has produced an entire film (Dostana) to subtly make Indians understand the effects of homophobia and the paranoia that surrounds society's response to the LGBT community, one would expect him to be more thoughtful about this. What could have been an iconic movement, thanks to Karan, has now been reduced to nothing but a veiled attempt at addressing one's sexuality which does nobody any good. 

Karan is a man who has never shied away from (indirectly!) addressing his sexuality on public podiums— whether it's at an awards show or on his chat show Koffee with Karan. If you take a look at all the episodes from season 5 of his show, currently being aired on TV, there's always hints and coy references to his sexuality in each and every episode which he brings. He's catty, chatty and fun and his guests — who are also his industry friends — don't mind it at all. Neither do we. Which is why KWK is still one of the most raved about talk shows in the media or otherwise. 

Not just this, Karan is also the man who didn't blink an eye before kissing a top actor (Ranveer Singh) in front of a crowd of 4000 people with his mother sitting in the front row! From cracking jokes about his sexuality to his 'pun intended' references—  wasn't this 'almost coming out' phase already over for KJo? What was the necessity to do this all over again and write a book on it when you dodge the sole purpose of the cause itself? 

Karan never needed to shout it out from the rooftops. It isn't too difficult to gauge his sexuality and with time, he's just become more boisterous and maybe more accepting of it. For that, we definitely have to admire him. His mannerisms, his jokes and his actions have done all the talking till date. There's nothing new or astounding that Karan actually confessed to in his biography. At least not in the excerpt that we read. 

'Yes, I'm gay' would have met the purpose. These three words would have definitely had a bigger impact than all these carefully put together lines which almost said something, but not quite.

Being a public icon and someone who is in a position to at least try bringing in change and impact society, Karan Johar has left me disappointed. Setting a rather bad example in front of the community, I wonder if this 'coming out' will help another man to ever actually come out of the closet? If someone like Karan Johar, who has position and power, admits that he's scared of saying the three words, how do we expect a common man to freely admit to it? Think about it Karan. Maybe you will realise that it was indeed the right time and platform to eventually say those three words...