Karan Johar opened up on Khushi Kapoor, Ibrahim Ali Khan being trolled for their film, 'Nadaaniyan'. Here's what he had to say.
Bollywood filmmaker, Karan Johar launched Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's son, Ibrahim Ali Khan, in the movie industry. The starkid made his debut opposite Khushi Kapoor in Nadaaniyan, and both of them were brutally trolled for their cringe-worthy dialogues and performances. Now, Karan, during the trailer launch of his next production, Akaal spoke about Khushi and Ibrahim being slammed and the movie being trolled due to their poor performances.
Nadaaniyan had released on Netflix on March 7, 2025 and received negative reviews from the audiences and the critics. When the trailer launch event of Akaal took place, Karan was asked about Khushi and Ibrahim being trolled for Nadaaniyan. He defended the starkids and said:
"Main bas ye hi kahunga, ek purani film ka alfaaz hai ki kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna... chhodo bekaar ki baatein, beet na jaaye raina"
Karan, in the trailer launch event of Akaal also shared that his relationship with the critics never changes towards them according to their reviews. He shared that it was their work and he does not have any conspiracy theory that they are doing it deliberately to bring down the film. Karan also said that he genuinely respects all the critics. But when one reads certain things, you think they are someone's daughter and son, their parents also read those things. In his words:
"Kabhi kabhi trollers karte hain, voh bhi benaam log hai, bechare unka apna problem hai, voh hum par nikal rahe hain. Unke liye mujhe bas taras aata hai aur kuch nahi."
Karan Johar also shared that a critic had written that the critic felt like kicking the movie, Nadaaniyan and the filmmaker had an issue with those who wrote like this. He also shared that he never had any issues with critics slamming his movies as it is their opinion and he accepts it innocently and is fine with people not liking his work as that makes him ponder deep over the craft.
The romantic film, Nadaniyaan faced a lot of trolling and backlash from the audiences and critics. Questions related to the casting of the movie has been raised and netizens have felt that newcomers like Khushi and Ibrahim in leading roles did not fit the bill. The film was called crappy and Karan was slammed for living in a delusional world. However, there were many celebrities like Sonu Sood, Hansal Mehta who found that the critics were harsh towards the starkids. Sonu had also told his fans to be kind towards the newcomers. There was Vikram Bhatt who had liked the movie and had predicted that Ibrahim one day would become a very 'big star'.
Nadaaniyan is a romantic drama movie that marked the debut of Ibrahim Ali Khan. This was Khushi's third movie after The Archies and Loveyapa. Naadaniyan was directed by Shauna Gautam and showed the magic, insanity of first love. The film was not well received despite not having a theatrical release.
What do you think of Kaan Johar's reaction towards defending Khushi Kapoor and Ibrahim Ali Khan amid Nadaaniyan's failure?
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