Karan Johar Reveals Gay Boys & Girls Reached Out To Him For This Reason

In many ways, Karan Johar shaped the brown pop culture for most of us. In a country where the topic like homosexuality was nothing beyond a few whispers, he brought the issue to the mainstream. While KJo never came out about his sexuality (which is a choice that I respect), he did inspire others to open up.

In his book, An Unsuitable Boy, Karan opened up on the subject of homosexuality and the criticism he faced for making Dostana. He shared, “People say that I make fun of and stereotype homosexuals. But I say, no, I’ve brought homosexuality to dining table discussions. I’ve received over a thousand emails and letters from gay boys and girls thanking me for making Dostana because, they said, now at least people know what the concept is. I also made Bombay Talkies which dealt with gay married men who are actually hiding and repressing themselves, owing to social and parental pressure.”

IMO, though Dostana wasn’t a hard-hitting film on the subject of homosexuality, it did start a conversation. I remember everyone around had an opinion on the film back in 2008. Even though it didn’t bring a revolution, it brought the word ‘Gay’ out in society. 

Karan Talks About His Sexuality

In his book, Karan went to lengths to talk about his orientation without saying anything out loud. One of the quotes from his books reads, “Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don’t need to scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won’t only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I Karan Johar will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me.“

The truth is the decision to come out or not is the most personal one. But Karan did make an impact on gay culture in India.

Featured Image: Instagram