HELLO! Exclusive: Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra on cinema, couture and camaraderie

They started their careers in the ’90s, a time where strong, middle-class values were etched on the screen and across starry fashion silhouettes. Then came the 1995 blockbuster, Rangeela, where Urmila Matondkar was styled to be artfully sensuous, like a desi Bo Derek. It was one midas touch that took the once gaudy Indian femme fatales to glorious high priestesses of style, as knockoffs of their on-screen garb flooded the high streets. That visionary, who worked with just two tailors and loads of instinct, who often found film producers suspicious when he wanted to understand the movie script, and who often found his paycheques bouncing… That intrepid game changer was Manish Malhotra. 

Then you have the bratty, sassy Karan Johar, scion of Dharma Productions, who legitimately inherited a portmanteau of storytelling styles. Founded back in 1976 by his father Yash Johar, Dharma has to its credit 63 films and counting. Of these, the 1990 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Agneepath — though not a hit — enjoys cult status today. Dostana from 1980 was a commercial success, much like the distinctly different Dostana that Karan made many turns of the sun later in 2008 as a ‘framily’ drama of two men posing as homosexuals, trying to woo their roommate...(continue reading)

To read the rest of the story, pick up the latest issue of the magazine from the stands now or click the subscribe button on your screens.