Director and producer Karan Johar, in a recent interview, spoke about the criticism often faced by affluent people of showing off their wealth. He said while it is also the Instagram generation which means everything they do and buy get documented publicly, he is not going to apologise for spending the wealth he has worked hard to achieve.
Speaking with Faye D’Souza on her show ‘The Faye D’Souza Show’, who asked him about the Hermès Birkin he was snapped carrying and eventually making to the headlines. Karan Johar was spotted carrying the much-coveted H Togo Hac Casaque Birkin bag, which is priced at around Rs 27 lakh. The journalist asked him about exorbitant buys, which are often criticised as a show of wealth.
Johar, known for delivering multiple blockbusters including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), My Name is Khan (2010), Student of the Year (2012), said he has worked rather hard to achieve his wealth and he will not apologise for spending it.
“I work very hard, there are times when I work 18 hours a day. I work through every weekend, national holidays, everyday. I work 16-20 hours on a daily basis, I sleep only five hours. I work very hard for the money I have made, I am never going to apologise for that,” he said in the interview.
According to the 2024 Hurun India Rich List, Karan Johar's net worth is Rs 1,400 crore.
“And I believe joy is very critical. I don’t want to sit and apologise for the money on things that give me joy. I am a bit of a crazy retail-mad person. I love shopping, it is therapeutic for me.I don’t want to admit otherwise, and I want to tell you the truth. I do like the Birkin bag I bought, and it is going to be my daughter’s. It is an heirloom piece. I look at it as an investment. But if you ask if I want a blingy watch, no I don’t like it. I don’t like cars, I like clothes, I am stupid perhaps, I am silly. I should be saving that money for my children perhaps but I know they will achieve their own dreams, like I achieved my own dreams. And I am going to do what makes me happy today. I am going to make sure my children are educated, I am going to make sure my mother is always protected and well taken care of but this gives me happiness, why should I deny it?” said Karan Johar.
He said he does not like the sensibility of hoarding, to only save the money. Johar said he has the usual savings, property investments, fixed deposits to protect the interest of his children. “But why am I sitting and apologising for the wealth that I have earned because of my own hard work. I worked very hard to achieve that wealth,” he said, agreeing that this is the Instagram generation and people are going to watch. “There is also fame attached to it, so what do I do? I can’t help it,” he said.
Karan Johar acknowledged that he did not particularly enjoy his CEO calling him and asking if he did spend the exorbitant amount on the Birkin bag. “Did I have a big party for my 50th? I did. Will I have a big wedding for my children? I will. Because I love it. I love it all and would not change that,” he said.
Speaking about his childhood, Johar said that his father, Yash Johar, gave a series of flops after delivering a hit with Dostana in 1980. As financiers used to put money in the films, they had to return the money with interest. As such if the film failed, the losses were grave too. Johar said they had to sell off properties and jewellery to sometimes recover from the losses or pay the financiers back.
The director said that they were not a wealthy family but his father treated him like a “prince” and he was in the habit of spending more than his means.
“Fortunately for me, and this is just coincidence, my first, second and third films did really well, and then my father passed away. So a lot of the money that we made at Dharma was made when I started directing,” he said.