Karan Johar is doing something today he’s never done before. Celebrating the birthdays of his twins Roohi and Yash. They are one year old already. How time flies when you’re having fun! The superstar filmmaker and celebrated TV chat show impresario is looking forward to the “at home” kiddies’ bash for Roohi and Yash this evening. Even while he reluctantly comes to terms with the fact that his children are quickly growing. His guest list is as selective as it is exclusive. Only a handful of toddlers around the same age as the Birthday Twins. The baby girls and boys of his friends in Bollywood. The merrymaking will be between 4 and 6.30 pm on the 11th floor of KJo’s three-storey Pali Hill apartment. But for Karan Johar, the party will continue all day and night.
Talking to PeepingMoon.com exclusively about Roohi and Yash turning one, Karan said, “They recognize me and greet me with big smiles as soon as I enter the house nowadays. Not just me, but also my mother and close friends who come over all the time. Like Alia Bhatt who is also going to be there at the party.” When they were just two months old, Karan used to introduce every visitor to Roohi and Yash by name. “I gave them all a family tag. I wanted my babies to know that their family is large. It’s not just Mom and me,” he said.
And so ‘Alia Bua’ and also ‘Varun Chacha’ and ‘Siddharth Chacha’ are likely to be celebrating the twins’ birthday at KJo’s kiddies’ bash. Looking back to that unforgettable day when the twins were discharged from the Surya Mother and Child Super Specialty Hospital in Santacruz and brought home, Karan added, “I had my hands full at home this past year, the babies have taken over my life, it’s unprecedented for me to stay away from work.”
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That Karan did initially, when Roohi and Yash were just two-and-half months old, being perhaps the first father who proudly went on “Paternity Leave” to look after his twins. But he is arguably Bollywood’s busiest filmmaker. He’s got a clutch of big budget, multi-star films on the floor, and Dharma Productions beckons the Busy Bossman as much as Dharma’s two lovable productions at home tempt the Proud Papa to stay away from work. “I’ve sort of worked out a compromise,” Karan told PeepingMoon.com. “The twins are absolutely adorable. At this age, they are at a clingy stage, they get very excited every time they see me and don’t want to let me go. So we make my leaving for work every morning a happy event. It’s ‘Say Ta-ta to Papa time!’ and a big show is made of my going with a lot of beaming smiles and happy gurgles. And then all through the day my Mom keeps me updated with messages and pictures of them on Whatsapp!”
There are several ‘highs’ in Karan’s life because of the little joys that Roohi and Yash keep bringing into his day. “They haven’t started talking but they babble a lot. I can’t wait for them to call me ‘Papa’ or ‘Dad’. And they are crawling and standing on their own without support. Soon they will be walking! The milestones in their lives are a little slow because they were born two-and-half months premature. But I’m so grateful for every little thing. I’m already taking them down to the green level in my building where they get into this little battery-operated white car, put on their seat belts, and drive around on their own. This is their favourite toy at the moment. I haven’t really bought Roohi and Yash birthday presents because I’m buying things for them all the time. Things they don’t even need at this age. You never really buy things for your children when they are so small – you buy them for yourself, because you like what you see! And I’ve observed, at times I buy them the most extravagant toy that excited me a lot... but they will ignore it and play with an ordinary piece of plastic! Fatherhood is a learning process.”
KJo Flashback to April 7, 2017
“This is my biggest blockbuster! I still haven’t realised the enormity of what’s happened. They’re two months old. All they do is eat, sleep, burp, wail and poop. Kabhi khushi, kabhi gham! While I sit and stare at them in wonder. I can’t get over the fact that they’re mine. It’s like a powerful switch has suddenly come on in my life filling the emptiness in my personal space with new energy. I get teary eyed just looking at them.”
“These are strange emotions for me. It’s surreal to think of Roohi and Yash as my daughter and son. It’s daunting in a gorgeous way to wake up suddenly at night and remember that I have life breathing in the next room that I’m totally accountable for.”
“I’ve decided once they are old enough, and before they start school, I’m going to bring Roohi and Yash to the office. They are productions of Dharma Productions. I want them to be all over the place. I’ll build a crèche here, like Disneyland! And they’ll travel with me when I go on shoots. Bebo’s son Taimur is a few months older than Roohi and Yash and we are already making plans for holidays together.”
“Fatherhood is a breathtaking rollercoaster ride. I’m struggling to do the right things for my kids. When they were conceived, I was ecstatic, but I told myself I would be a responsible father and not a paranoid mother. Then came the complexities of premature birth. And the heartache of seeing them in the incubator. But I felt a strong sense of ownership. This was a lifelong dream come true. I felt enormously blessed as a parent. And I couldn’t wait to take them in my arms. When I did that for the first time, it was incredible. I knew this was the beginning of a different kind of love story. The start of the best phase of my life.”
“I receive thousands of suggestions, on pediatricians, nurses, how to make the nursery adaptive, what music to play for them – Baby Mozart, Baby Beethoven or nursery rhymes, which formula is best – Nan Pro, Similac or Enfamil, how to burp them, monitor their temperatures, when to take them for their immunity shots, what to do if they have nappy rash, what to do when they cry. I could give paranoid mothers a master class!”
“People want to know if I change my babies’ nappies. I think this is overrated. I don’t remember my parents changing mine. I remember being held and hugged. But I did it once – changed their nappies, because I felt it would be great if I was able to clean up their mess. It was like ticking an inbox! I don’t want to be that kind of hands-on parent when I can be a fulltime heart-on father and mother!”
