'I broke all boundaries': Karan Johar says father wouldn't approve 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'

Nearly two decades after Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna divided audiences with its portrayal of infidelity and troubled marriages, Karan Johar has opened up about the challenges of making the 2006 film and the personal circumstances that allowed him to take the story in an unconventional direction.

Speaking at the Marrakech International Film Festival during a Conversation Series, Johar recalled how uncertain he and Shah Rukh Khan were about whether audiences would accept Dev, a married man who has an affair with another woman. Johar was at the festival to present a gala screening of his production Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan.

The filmmaker said the film was particularly difficult because it was one of the major mainstream, big-budget Hindi films of its time to deal directly with infidelity.

Shah Rukh Khan was unsure about making Dev likeable

Johar said Khan's established image made the character even more difficult to present. Shah Rukh had traditionally been associated with idealised characters such as the perfect husband, brother, lover and son, making his decision to cross the boundaries of marriage a potentially difficult one for audiences to accept.

“It was a very complicated film to shoot,” Johar said. “For Shah Rukh Khan, who is the perfect husband, brother, lover, son, to step outside the boundary of his marriage and have an affair, we didn't know whether the audience would accept that character or that relationship.”

According to Johar, Khan himself struggled with the question of how to make Dev appealing to viewers.

“Shah Rukh and I used to discuss it, and he would tell me, ‘I don't know how to make myself likeable.’ I told him, ‘You are Shah Rukh Khan. How can someone not love Shah Rukh Khan? You are love,’” Johar recalled.

The director said the uncertainty continued throughout the shoot, with the team having to work through complicated scenes involving infidelity almost every day.

“We were challenged as director and actor. I didn't know how to justify them,” he said.

Khan's concerns about the character have also emerged in recent discussions around the film. Johar recently recalled that the actor was apprehensive about how audiences would respond to Dev, given his departure from the romantic hero image associated with Khan.

Johar says he refused to back away from the subject

Johar described making Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna as a leap of faith and said he remains grateful that he took it. At the time, he recalled, there were people who believed he had “lost the plot” by choosing such a controversial subject for a film starring Shah Rukh Khan.

The filmmaker also remembered being questioned about why he would explore infidelity through one of Bollywood's biggest romantic stars.

Johar recalled an encounter with a major film star in a hotel lobby who confronted him over the subject. The actor asked him how he could “do this to Shah Rukh” and whether he was endorsing infidelity.

Johar said he rejected that argument.

“I can't endorse something that already exists. There's no such thing as endorsing infidelity, it exists in everyone's lives,” he recalled telling the actor.

Johar said he was ultimately comfortable with the decision and told the star: “Thank you for your advice, but I won't be taking it.”

The director has made a similar argument in the past, saying that infidelity is a reality that society often prefers to avoid confronting. In an earlier discussion, he said Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was intended to explore that reality rather than endorse it.

‘My father was my moral compass’

Johar also connected the film's unconventional subject to the death of his father, veteran producer Yash Johar, who died in 2004, two years before Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was released.

According to Johar, his father would probably never have permitted him to make the film because of his traditional and conservative outlook.

“He was my moral compass. In many ways, I don't think he would ever have allowed me to direct this film because he was a very traditional, conservative man,” Johar said.

He added that Yash Johar held Shah Rukh Khan in the highest esteem, making the film's storyline even less likely to have received his approval.

Johar said his father's death left him without the guiding presence that had previously influenced his creative decisions.

“When he passed away, I felt that governance was no longer there, so I decided to break all boundaries and barriers and make what I wanted to make,” he said.

For Johar, the experience represented a transition into a new phase of his life and career.

“It was me growing up. I felt grown up at the end of this experience,” he said.

About Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Released on August 11, 2006, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna centred on Dev Saran, played by Shah Rukh Khan, and Maya Talwar, played by Rani Mukerji. Both are unhappy in their respective marriages and eventually find themselves drawn to each other, leading to an affair complicated by guilt, jealousy and heartbreak.

The film also featured Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Kirron Kher in key roles. It was directed by Karan Johar and produced by Hiroo Johar.

The film's treatment of marriage, emotional dissatisfaction and infidelity generated sharply divided reactions when it was released. Johar revisited that response again in 2026, as the film marked 20 years, recalling the strong criticism and uncomfortable reactions it had generated among audiences.

Two decades on, Johar continues to describe the film as an important creative departure, one that allowed him to move beyond the boundaries associated with his earlier work.