Bollywood director and producer Karan Johar and actress Kajol have always had a warm rapport with each other. Their enduring friendship has been documented over numerous candid photos, public performances and Kajol's guest appearances in Johar's films like Student of the Year and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.
However, it appears that the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai duo have had a fallout from which there is no turning back.
Johar's biography An Unsuitable Boy already grabbed headlines for his (almost) 'coming out' and now, it's back in news for the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil director's rendition on why things went wrong with Kajol. In a series of photographic excerpts tweeted by a someone called 'DP', Johar talks about something which happened between Kajol and himself, disturbing him "deeply".
Karan johar on his fallout with Kajol. pic.twitter.com/P4Y4sNJOtd
— DP (@friends_rachel6) January 12, 2017
While Johar writes that he will refrain from talking about the incident, he hints heavily towards an earlier tiff he had with Kajol's husband, Ajay Devgn, over the release dates of Shivaay and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The former was directed and produced by, and starred Ajay Devgn. At the time, Johar was also accused of bribing Kamaal R Khan, popularly known as KRK, for dissing Shivaay on Twitter.
Kajol reacted to the accusation with a one word tweet - “Shocked!” - and her reaction worsened the already souring relationship between the two friends.
Johar reveals that he cannot say he was "hurt or pained" by the accusations of bribing KRK to badmouth Shivaay, but that he just wanted to "blank it out". However, Kajol's reaction to the controversy ensured it all went downhill from there.
"That tweet validated the insanity, that she could believe I would bribe someone. I felt that’s it. It’s over. And she can never come back to my life. I don’t think she wants to either. I never want to have anything to do with them as a unit," says Johar.
"After two and half decades, Kajol and I don’t talk at all. We just acknowledge each other, say ‘hello’ and walk past,” Johar writes. He says the "problem" was not with Kajol but between Ajay Devgn and himself. "But I did feel that she needed to apologize for something she didn’t do. I felt that if she’s not going to acknowledge twenty-five years of friendship, if she wants to support her husband, then that’s her prerogative. At some outer level I understood it. But I just couldn’t see myself in her life any more," he writes.
He adds that while he told his mother that she could continue her relationship with Kajol, he would not have Kajol in his life anymore. Saying that Kajol "killed every bit of emotion" he had had for her in 25 years.
"I’ve been told by my friends that it’s still my hurt talking but I’m so indifferent to the situation now, what with everything that’s transpired. There was still a bit of me that wished we would get back to what we had, but that one-word tweet that she put out – that was the most humiliating thing she could have done for a person who loved her deeply. That broke me," Johar writes.
Once Kajol's reaction broke Johar, it also angered him, which then turned into indifference, he says. Refuting all chances of reconciliation, Johar writes that he will never be there for Kajol now, "no matter what happens". He adds that he does not even want to speak about Ajay Devgn because he never mattered to him.
"I still don’t want to say anything about her husband because I want to respect the history she and I shared," Johar says.
While Johar comes out strongly condemning Kajol for her disregard towards their friendship, it is yet to be seen if Kajol's version of events will be different.