Karan Johar Recalls SRK Came Forward To Protect Him After Death Threats: 'He Said I’ll Take A Bullet...'

Karan Johar recalled receiving death threats during the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and shared how Shah Rukh Khan stood by him like a rock. The filmmaker, in a new interview, gave insights into his bond with the superstar when he revisited the time that he had to go into hiding due to the death threats. He said that during the grand premiere of his debut film, he was put in a small room as a protective measure and skipped the screening. However, he said that Shah Rukh was protective for Karan and even said he would take a bullet for him.

Speaking with Mid-Day, Karan Johar said it was his dream to host his film’s premiere at Liberty Theatre in Mumbai and wanted to witness Shammi Kapoor attend the premiere. However, due to the threats, he was kept away from the red carpet. “I was sitting in this tiny room because all the security. For whatever reason (the people who issued the death threat) didn’t want us to release the film. The authorities said that please go ahead and release it,” he recalled.

“Shah Rukh knew about this dream I had so when Shammi uncle came out of his Mercedes car, Shah Rukh went inside, brought me out and made me stand right in front of him. He said, ‘Nobody will do anything to you. You watch this moment.’ So I saw that moment happened and I literally had tears in my eyes because it was my dream actually realising itself. Shah Rukh said, ‘You won’t go from here.’ My mother got hyper, my father got hyper and they sent me back. But I will never forgot how Shah Rukh brought me out. He said, ‘I’ll take the bullet for you, you just stand there.’ That’s when I realised that this is a relationship that is forever,” Karan added.

Karan first mentioned the incident in his biography, the Unsuitable Boy. He detailed on the events unfolded on the night of the film’s premiere and said that after the film was screened, he and his parents took a flight out to London and spent the opening weekend there, not knowing that the film performed brilliantly at the box office.

As for Shah Rukh and Karan, the duo went on to reunite on several occasions — for full length movies and cameos. Karan, in the same interview, revealed that Shah Rukh did not charge a penny for his cameos in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Brahmastra.