Komal Nahta’s podcast Game Changers: The Producers' Series has become a goldmine of inspiring stories from the entertainment world. Featuring celebrated personalities from the industry, it offers an engaging space where knowledge, experience, and nostalgia blend seamlessly through insightful and heartfelt conversations. Recently when producers director Karan Johar appeared on the podcast, he talked about the production aspects, star fees, entourage and a lot more about superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
At Game Changers: The Producer Series, Karan Johar said, “If an actor is a massive star, he deserves a fat fee but then, he should also participate in the profit model. It could be in terms of box office performance or profit percentage. If an actor will front load a film with a high budget, then recovery becomes difficult. The scenario at present is unpredictable. Sometimes, a big film bombs and at times, a small film explodes at the box office. Kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Hence, a big star should charge a big price and rightfully so. At the same time, he should also have a skin in the game.” He said, “No actor says that ‘My last 2 films haven’t worked. So, I’ll return some amount of money from the fees that you paid me’. Wapas toh koi deta nahin hai. Sab lete hi hai. Koi deta toh hai nahin (laughs)!”
When asked if his friendship with actors helps him in getting reasonable deals, Karan Johar revealed, “I have never benefited from my friendship with actors. Actors are good and lovely during parties, but everyone means business. The only exception is Shah Rukh Khan. He’s everything for me – collaborator, friend, bhai. I call him bhai. He’s the only actor who has never talked money with me. He never talked about it with my father (Yash Johar). He says, ‘Whatever you want, send the paper and I’ll sign it’. When I go as a director, he has not even heard the script. I just tell him, ‘Bhai, I am directing this film’. He’ll tell me, ‘Ok. These are my dates’. When asked about fees, he’ll say, ‘Whatever you want to pay’.”
During the rapid-fire round, Karan Johar was asked about the actor he loves to pamper. Karan replied, “I like pampering Shah Rukh Khan the most. Whenever I go shopping, it’s in my DNA now that ‘Bhai ko yeh pasand aa jaayega. Khareed lo’. He buys me things too. Suddenly, I’ll get a big present in my house and I’d know that it has come from Shah Rukh Khan! Then, I will send something. It doesn’t happen on birthdays; it happens throughout the year.”
He continued, “If I am shopping, I’ll send him a picture and ask him, ‘Bhai, do you like it?’. He does the same. And he’s a massive shopper like me. We both are retail maniacs (laughs). What I love about him is that he loves presents. Even now, when you give him a present, he behaves like an excited two-year-old child. When he opens the present, there’s joy.”