Karan Johar on ghosting Varun, Janhvi: the message that stung

Karan Johar used the latest Koffee With Karan Season 9 sofa session to address two estrangements that fans had long speculated about: one with Varun Dhawan and one with Janhvi Kapoor. The silences were real, and the making-up involved a birthday, a box of laddoos and one message that still stings.

Why Karan stopped taking Varun’s calls

Varun Dhawan admitted he did not realise at first that Karan was upset with him, while Janhvi Kapoor already knew. The trigger was a release-date clash. Karan said his film and Varun’s film were headed for the same theatrical date, and that date slots had become hard to find.

• Varun says he had flagged the date as a possibility.
• Karan says nothing was confirmed until Varun landed on the same date.
• When Karan went quiet, Varun sent the message that made it worse: “Stop acting like a child.”

Karan recalled not answering calls or messages after that. He said the line Varun crossed was a boundary: Varun could speak to his parents that way, but not to him. The phrase “Stop acting like a child” is what Karan says upset him most.

Janhvi’s exit felt like a break-up

The conversation also revisited Janhvi’s fallout with Karan after she left his talent management agency. Both compared it to a break-up, and Janhvi said the period caused “a lot of pain.” Karan added that he was hurt with both actors.

Janhvi revealed the no-contact phase had physical effects: she gained six kilograms and only began losing the weight after they reconciled. Varun described his own fight as one-sided, while Janhvi’s was “a real fight.”

The birthday that repaired it

Varun claimed credit for the peace deal. Janhvi kept sending Karan laddoos even when they were not speaking. Varun said he changed his own release date—joking about a “selfless heart”—and believed that if Janhvi showed up at Karan’s birthday celebration, Karan would soften.

Varun remembered Karan saying people had disappointed him, and that “this hurt.” He then compared Karan’s stance to Amitabh Bachchan’s patriarch in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham: “You became Bachchan from K3G.”

Why this matters

These are not just off-screen spats. They show how release calendars and management exits can strain even the warmest Bollywood equations, and how a personal gesture—laddoos, a birthday invitation—can do what a press statement cannot.

• Varun Dhawan has been seen in Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai and Border 2.
• Janhvi Kapoor was last in Peddi and will appear with Tiger Shroff in Lag Jaa Gale.

Source: The Times of India