Early LIFE:
Johar was born on May 25, 1972, in Mumbai, India, to parents Hiroo Johar and film producer Yash Johar, who founded Dharma Productions. His mother’s side of the family is Sindhi Hindu, and his father is Punjabi Hindu. He went to Greenlawn’s High School to study. After graduating from Greenlawn’s, he looked at the Mumbai, Maharashtra-based H.R. College of Commerce and Economics.
CAREER:
When he played Shrikant in the 1989 Doordarshan serial Indradhanush, Karan Johar launched his acting career in the entertainment business. He attributes his early exposure to commercial Indian cinema to Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra, and Sooraj R. Barjatya. Johar once used numerology to create movie titles where the first word and several others all started with the letter K. Johar chose to cease using numerology after seeing the 2006 movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai, which was critical of the practice.
As an assistant director on his cousin Aditya Chopra’s 1995 film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, regarded as a milestone in Hindi cinema, Johar made his debut in the motion picture industry.
Then, with the romantic comedy-drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, he made his directorial debut (1998). The movie became a big hit at the box office, and critics gave it high marks. The film was praised by reviewers and became Johar’s second big box office hit.
Except for the anthology films Bombay Talkies, Lust Stories, and Ghost Stories, Karan Johar’s directorial work has been produced under the Dharma Productions label, which was established by his father, Yash Johar, and which he has since taken over following his death in 2004. In addition to his films, he has also produced several other directors’ movies under the Dharma label. Several of these movies, such as Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Dostana (2008), Wake Up Sid (2008), I Hate Luv Stories (2010), Agneepath (2012), and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (2008), have gained significant critical and commercial success.
PERSONAL LIFE:
When asked about his sexuality, Johar said, “Everyone knows what my sexual orientation is. I don’t need to scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won’t.” Through surrogacy, Johar became the father of boy and girl twins in February 2017. At Mumbai’s Masrani Hospital, the twins were delivered. Johar gave his daughter Roohi the name Bhim by rearranging his mother’s name Hiroo, and he gave his son Yash, named after his father.
Several successful actors have had their careers launched by Karan Johar through his production company, Dharma.