On Wednesday, Karan Johar held an emergency meeting in his office with all the directors and staff of his production house Dharma Productions to decide a plan of action regarding the dust that’s been kicked up by the AIB’s “Roast” where he played the “horny host”.
According to a close friend of Karan, the filmmaker is badly shaken by all the controversy that has flared up. On Tuesday The Federation Of Western India Cinema Employees (FWICE), which speaks for 22 Bollywood-related organisations, issued a strongly worded condemnation of the ‘Roast’.
The letter describes the Roast as “a travesty of basic human decency in the name of entertainment and a blot on the culture and very tradition that we need to safeguard”. Demanding an unconditional apology from the organisers and participants of the show the letter, signed by Kamlesh Pandey and Dilip Pithvam the president and general secretary of the FWICE, respectively, warns of “strict disciplinary action” against what they see as “cultural terrorism.”
According to KJo’s close buddy, the director is shaken by the backlash. “Karan never knew there would be backlash like this. He had a meeting with his directors on Tuesday where they all decided that he should lie low and let the furore die down.”
Apparently Karan’s powerful star friends like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan have completely distanced themselves from the controversy. Karan’s other superstar friend Amitabh Bachchan came out with a mild criticism of the Roast saying, “I haven’t seen the show. But abusing in public is not right.”
Says the friend, “You will never find Shah Rukh or Aamir indulging in any vulgarity off or on screen.
As for Salman, he is almost a prude. None of them find what Karan has done amusing or entertaining, though they won’t go against him in public.” The friend adds, “The truth is, Karan has angered many of his powerful friends. It is unlikely he will ever attempt something like this again.”
