Karan Johar returned as a director after seven years with Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. The romantic drama became a talking point for many reasons, one of which was Rani’s (Alia Bhatt) glamorous sarees. Almost everyone was floored by Rani’s fashion sense but many asked whether any journalist wears such fancy sarees to work.
Karan Johar was asked about it by Mayank Shekhar of Mid-Day recently. Karan justified it by pointing to three women, present in the interviewing area, who were journalists and who were wearing sarees. He then also revealed that Rani’s character in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was inspired by a journalist named Poonam Saxena. Not just Rani in his latest release, but Rani Mukerji’s character in Karan Johar’s short in Bombay Talkies (2013), was also a female journalist, who used to be saree-clad.
Karan Johar said, “This Rani (Alia Bhatt in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) and that Rani (Rani Mukerji in Bombay Talkies) are both derived from a member of the media called Poonam Saxena. She’s always in a saree, and I found that wonderful. I love the saree, per se.”
Poonam Saxena, besides being a journalist, is also an author. She co-wrote ‘An Unsuitable Boy’, the autobiography of Karan Johar.
At another point in the interview, Karan Johar also praised Alia Bhatt’s co-star in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Ranveer Singh, and Alia’s husband Ranbir Kapoor, with whom KJo worked in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016). Karan stated, “Ranbir is a producer’s delight. He can be on the set for 16 years straight. He feeds off the director. Ranveer feeds off the world. For Rocky, he spent days in Delhi, interacting with local influencers, including hanging out at a West Delhi party.”
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