I hate surprises, says Karan Johar

It might be uncharacteristic of him, but filmmaker Karan Johar doesn’t have a plan for his 39th birthday today. He says that he will be going to watch a cricket match as superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s guest on his birthday. “Am I expecting a surprise on my birthday? Umm… not at all! I don’t like surprises. I would rather not have a birthday party and enjoy a match,” says the filmmaker promising that he hasn’t planned anything for his birthday. However, sources say that SRK has planned a party for him today. There’s a cake to be cut after the match. But if SRK is not in a good mood, the party will be moved to Mannat (Shah Rukh’s bungalow at Bandra).

Ask Karan about Shah Rukh and he blurts out, “I am scared of Shah Rukh. It’s the same way one is scared of his elder brother. He is senior to me in the industry and he also gets to scolds me when I go wrong. When Shah Rukh is scolding me, silence is the only answer. He is like a guardian to me and somebody who is an integral part of my family. I am best friends with his wife, Gauri too, but Shah Rukh is somebody I am not friends with. It’s got more to do with love and respect you have for your elder brother,” says Karan.

But doesn’t it become a clash of interests that Shah Rukh also has his own production house now?

“Every good friend of mine in the industry has his or her own production house. In fact, that has always been the case. We are into different spaces and we all make movies together. It actually helps us that everybody is in the same field,” he adds.

With rumours of Dostana 2 not taking off anymore doing the rounds, we can’t help but ask Karan why is it that none of his films have had a sequel so far. “I like to tell the story at one go and most of the stories that I have told finish there. If I really get a story which is worth a sequel, I am definitely going to make it. But for that, it has to be a really good story that is worth it,” he says.