Karan Johar Breaks Boxoffice Rules And Delivers A Hit With Gay Hero, And Censor Chief Is Happy

Shakun Batra’s Kapoor & Sons dares to go against conventions. One of its heroes is a homosexual. No film with a homosexual hero has done well before,not even Karan Johar’s outstanding Bombay Talkies where Saqib Salim forced married hero Randeep Hooda out of the closet and kissed him on the lips.

And at a time when shorter films are in demand Kapoor & Sons plays at 2 ½ hours.

The film started moderately and over the weekend has doubled its boxoffice collections.

Says the film’s leading man Rishi Kapoor, “Content-based films have started being appreciated. Piku, Airlift, Neerja, Bajirao Mastani , now our film Kapoor & Sons are not regular masala types. The failure of Dilwale shows audiences want now fresh stuff. Mind you, most of the mentioned films have only done well in metros ,apart from Bajirao Mastani .Yet they raked in big.”

The one person who seems delighted by the unexpected success of Kapoor & Sons is censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani. “We are accused of being over-conservative and homophobic by filmmakers whose films flop on release after a making a hue and cry about censor policies. Look at Karan Johar. He has made a film that breaks conventions. The hero is homosexual. But this fact is not thrown into audiences’ faces. It’s just there, as the truth about a character that the family must face. We welcome films on mature themes. But filmmakers need to exercise maturity in dealing with such themes.”