Bollywood ace filmmaker Karan Johar revealed how he mutes negativity around him. KJo cited Tota Roy Chowdhury‘s character from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
In a conversation with Film Companion at TIFF, the filmmaker said, “Vicariously, we live our lives through cinema. Even in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Tota Roy Chowdhury’s character, Alia’s father in the film, and what he spoke about being laughed at as a child when he wanted to dance. It was pretty much a section of my childhood where I was considered different from the other boys. Unusual. People would use all kinds of words at that time that were hurtful.”
The filmmaker then added, “Very easily, you can get weakened by what people say about you. But I felt like ‘Thank God I have cinema where I can express myself.”
KJo continued, “And when he said in the film ‘hunar ka koi gender nahi hota’, I believe that. I believe that tomorrow if I wanna dance on the stage, some would call it effeminate, some will call it a piece of art. I’m not afraid of judgment anymore. I feel like I have been through the fire and now I can face it. Now the trolls don’t matter to me.” He added, “At one point of time, you have to realize that you live your life once. If you start succumbing to external pressures, you will never be able to live your life the way you want.”