Karan Johar is going to make the kind of film that he hasn't tried making before. He is venturing into the genre of period drama with his next directorial, titled Takht. The film has got a stunning cast with actors Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Anil Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Janhvi Kapoor. It's set in the Mughal era and Karan calls it "scary and nerve-wrecking".
In Bollywood, there are only two directors from the recent past who have been closely associated with making period dramas on a larger-than-life scale -- Ashutosh Gowarikar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The latter is more regular in creating such opulence driven films.
In a recent interview with popular film critic, Anupama Chopra, Karan talked about how he knows there will be comparisons between him and Bhansali. However, he said, he would just focus on doing justice with the material that he has for his film.
He elaborated, "I would be lying if I didn’t admit that the comparison is very challenging. I love Sanjay’s aesthetic. The comparison scares me but I hope I can find my own voice. I hope I’m not doomed by comparison. I’m just recovering from Sairat and I can’t go there again. I also don’t want be overwhelmed by it.
He added, "He has set the bar high and if I pay homage to his work, I will be proud of it. So much of my cinema pays homage to Yash Chopra but I still gave it my own vision and my own palette. More than the comparison, I’m afraid of not living up to the potential of the narrative. I just hope I can do justice to the material".
Takht is being written by Sumit Roy and Hussain Haidry. Karan is returning to direction with this one after two years.
