Karan Johar predicts John Abraham’s success on the ramp, but not on screen
Karan Johar’s vision for John Abraham: A ramp superstar rather than a big-screen actor
In a throwback revelation, Bollywood star John Abraham shared that filmmaker Karan Johar had once offered him a “significant” role in the iconic movie ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ (K3G).
During an appearance on the first season of Johar’s chat show ‘Koffee With Karan’, John, who initially started his career as a model, reminisced about his early days in the industry and the time when Johar proposed a one-scene, one-line role for him in the family drama ‘K3G’.
A clip of their conversation resurfaced on Reddit, where John mentioned that he was approached to portray the character of Robby, the college friend and boyfriend of Kareena Kapoor’s character Poo. However, he turned down the offer.
Reflecting on the incident, Abraham recalled, “I used to seek a lot of advice from Karan, considering I was being offered numerous roles. It was during one of these discussions that he proposed a significant role in ‘K3G’ to me.”
“But when I watched the film, I was searching for the character of Robby throughout and couldn’t find him anywhere,” he added.
In response, Johar explained that he had always seen John as a model, especially after judging a pageant where John emerged as the winner. He believed that John’s well-built physique would be a perfect fit for the ramp, but he didn’t envision him as a big-screen star. Johar advised him to explore other options.
“However, he has come a long way since then and is now gracing the posters of my own films,” Johar commented, alluding to their collaboration in the supernatural film ‘Kaal’, which also featured Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol, and Lara Dutta.
‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’, released in 2001, was a lavish family drama produced, written, and directed by Karan Johar. The film starred Kajol, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, and Hrithik Roshan in lead roles. It became a major commercial success and received multiple awards, including five Filmfare Awards.
As for John Abraham, he made his debut a few years later in ‘Jism’ and was last seen in the blockbuster film ‘Pathaan’.
