SRK, KJo's moment of history

That My Name is Khan is one of the biggest Bollywood global grossers ever is not just a professional triumph for two of the Hindi film industry’s most powerful names — Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar; it’s also a personal victory for them.

“Every time we have come together, something special has happened,” says the Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan. SRK, who has witnessed Karan’s graph rise with each of their films — be it Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kal Ho Naa Ho or Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and now My Name is Khan, smiles affectionately as he remembers their first meeting. “He was very young when he came to me to make Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. But even then, he was crystal clear in what he wanted to say,” he remembers.

“With each passing film I have seen him grow in stature as a person and as a film-maker. Karan is family. Gauri and my kids — Aryan and Suhana — love him. And I feel a personal pride in seeing him scale the heights he has,” he adds.

For Karan, the journey of Khan is an emotional high. “Well, I’m ecstatic that the film has become the global phenomenon that it has. It has broken records,’’ says Karan. “But for me, what is of even more significance is the fact that SRK and I have an emotional connect. This makes our professional triumph even more special.” He admits that giving five-record-breaking films together is the result of “great synergy between the both of us. And, what makes this record even more meaningful for me is the fact that Shah Rukh and I share an emotional bond.”

If SRK has seen Karan mature from a boy to a man, Karan has also seen Bollywood biggest brand rise right in front of his eyes. “Professionally Shah Rukh is the biggest, most widely accepted Bollywood brand across the globe. And personally I have seen him grow from a husband to a father. The birth of his children changed him forever. He is now more restrained as a person. As far as his celluloid growth is concerned, well I don’t need to say it. Even those remotely connected to the movies will stand testimony for the fact that Shah Rukh is indeed King.’’