Karan Johar: Actors Are Turning Into Trailer Cutters

Karan Johar is worried that Bollywood is now measuring actors by how loud, aggressive or ‘front-footed’ they can be. In a conversation with Anupama Chopra for The Hollywood Reporter India, the filmmaker said he has seen lead actors stop a narration to argue that a character is not alpha enough. His concern is that roles are being judged by whether they fit an aggressive template, not by the writing.

The Raj test

Johar used Shah Rukh Khan’s Raj from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge as his counter-example. Raj did not fight Simran’s father; he spent the film earning his approval and blessings. That restraint was the whole point of the character, Johar said, and it is still why the role works decades later. He added that Saiyaara has also found room for a sensitive male lead even as films such as Kabir Singh, Animal and Dhurandhar keep pushing aggressive heroes.

When the narration becomes a production meeting

What Johar finds strange is where actor questions now travel. Instead of script, he says he gets asked whether a film is ‘deeply rooted’, whether it uses folklore, and what the VFX budget is. His answer to the VFX question is plain: no filmmaker sets out to make a tacky film to save money. A Hindi film should first be rooted in good writing and in the language and syntax of Indian cinema, not in a list of packaging boxes.

Casting has become another flashpoint. Johar believes once an actor signs on, the rest of the cast should be the filmmaker’s call. Instead, he says, actors are reaching into box-office predictions, trade analysis, perception setting, publicity, trailer edits and poster design.

‘When are you acting exactly?’ he asked.

Why this explains the sameness on screen

Johar is not describing a new problem. He has made versions of this argument before:

• At The Week Salon in April 2026, he said one hit in a zone leads to ten more.
• In June 2025, he told Bollywood Hungama that the industry leans too hard on established formulas after films like Pushpa, Chhaava and Stree.
• In July 2024, he pointed to the Jawan and Pathaan action rush, saying the industry was running around like headless chickens.

He also refused to put all the blame on actors. Filmmakers and producers, he said, are ‘deeply complicit in the creation of this monstrosity’ because saying no is uncomfortable, so the demands keep being accommodated.

For fans, the fix is simple

This is the part where the audience gets a vote. If softer heroes, original scripts and quieter performances keep finding support, the herd has less reason to run after the same template. Johar says he still values the input of experienced stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, whose years in cinema give their notes weight. The difference, in his view, is between experience and interference—and between making a film and packaging one.

Source: The Times of India