Karan Johar reacts to Kalank's failure: Perhaps I lost objectivity with a film that was so close to my heart

Karan Johar’s production  Kalank was touted to be one of the major films of 2019. Whether it was the stellar ensemble cast (including Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sonakshi Sinha, Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt) or the opulent and extravagant sets, Kalank was generously backed by Dharma Productions, with most hoping that the film would give back the returns and how. However, the box office numbers showed a different result and the film tanked. In a recent interview with DNA, producer Karan opens up about how he dealt with the failure, considering it was him and his father’s (Yash Johar) dream to develop the film. Karan begins by stating two basic rules he and his team follow for most films. The filmmaker says that he always advocates the policy of moving on, with successes. He asks his actors never to dwell on why a film worked or celebrate the big numbers that the film clocked in. But, in case of failures, Karan notes it is important to contemplate and understand where the team went wrong, a practice which he followed even with Kalank director Abhishek Varman. [caption id=“attachment_5654251” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Karan Johar. Image from Facebook[/caption] “To me, when Kalank fails, it is my failure. 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. It was a film that was close to my heart and perhaps that is the reason why I lost a certain objectivity,” says Karan. Karan also says that Kalank will never be a ‘failure’ to him per se as it has taught him how not to fail.