Karan Johar on ‘Kalank’ box office failure: “It is largely my responsibility”

Karan Johar’s ambitious production ‘Kalank’ (2019) turned out to be a big flop at the box office. The period drama, which was made on a budget of Rs 180 crore, managed to earn just Rs 66.03 crore in its first week.

In an interview to DNA India, Johar opened up on whether he broke down after the failure of the film, which was extremely close to his heart.

He said, “There was not a single point after Kalank when I had a breakdown, meltdown or low moment. I was like, we have to take this positively and have to emerge on top from this. I have a strong and talented team and lots of internal love.”

Talking about his team, he added, “I must say that every cast member of Kalank and the director Abhishek Varman were like soldiers. They fought till the very end. Even when they felt they had lost all hope; they took back something solid from the experience. I love that spirit.”

Johar, who produced ‘Kalank’ under his banner Dharma Productions, said, “I cannot be the one who has a breakdown. I hold Dharma together and I am its driving force. I am someone who everyone in the company looks at. When everyone looks at you and you crumble, then you spread that energy across the company.”

“I’m the older one, I’m the wiser one. I’m the more knowledgeable person about what works and what doesn’t. If the film has faltered, it is largely my responsibility and my blame. Of course, no one person can take the blame, but I choose to because I felt that the material was something I was aware of for not one year but 15 years,” the filmmaker said.

“It was a film that was close to my heart and perhaps that is the reason why I lost a certain objectivity. I will never look at Kalank as a failure. I will look at it as a success because it has taught me how not to fail like this,” he added.

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