Karan Johar admits it was regressive of him to transform Kajol's character in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Filmmaker Karan Johar has confessed that the transformation of Kajol’s character from a tomboy to a sari-clad woman in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was a ‘stupid move’ on his part. [caption id=“attachment_3142582” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Karan Johar has said he regrets the transformation of Kajol’s character, Anjali, in ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’[/caption] Addressing the audience in the Mehboob Studio at an ongoing literature festival in Mumbai, Johar admitted that it was a blunder to attribute Kajol’s failure to find love to her physical appearance and particularly, her outfits. In Johar’s directorial debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai that released way back in 1998, Kajol played Anjali, a tomboy who falls in love with her best friend Rahul, played by Shah Rukh Khan. However, he does not reciprocate the feeling as he prefers the stylish Tina, played by Rani Mukherjee, over the ‘jhalli’ (messy) Anjali. Anjali faces heartbreak and transforms herself over the years into a more traditional avatar. Subsequently, both Aman, played by Salman Khan, and Rahul fall in love with the new and ‘improved’ Anjali. At the literature festival, when an audience member expressed her disagreement with Johar’s portrayal of Kajol in the film, Johar responded by admitting that he regrets that creative decision. He explained that he was just treading the path of making a stereotypical commercial potboiler and was following only ‘what he had been taught’. Johar recalled how senior female actor Shabana Azmi called after watching the film and objected to how Anjali had been portrayed. Johar added that he had no valid answer to her question and just apologised. At the literature festival, he apologised to the fans as well, vowing that he will not repeat such regressive creative decisions in his upcoming films. Johar also recalled how foolish and naive it was of him to include the narrative device of Tina leaving eight letters for her daughter Anjali, each to be gifted to her on her birthday. “What were the first two letters in? Baby language? How could the little Anjali even read those two letters!” Johar exclaimed. Now that Johar has self-admittedly grown as a filmmaker, he is likely to not paint his characters in regressive colours.