An extract from actor Ayushmann Khurrana’s book – Cracking the Code: My Journey in Bollywood – in which he was rejected by movie producer Karan Johar in 2007, is becoming a web sensation after the self-destruction of entertainer Sushant Singh Rajput started a renewed discussion around nepotism in the film business.
Ayushmann reconsidered one of the initial Bollywood figures that he met back when he was a radio jockey and took an interview with KARAN JOHAR. At an awards show in 2007, Ayushmann approached Karan for his number and revealed to him that he wanted to be an actor.
“Karan gave me the landline number to his office when I met him. I should have taken a hint there and then. But I was so excited! I even planned exactly when I would make the call: sometime around 11:30 am, so he’d be done with breakfast and available to talk.”
Ayushmann resumed, “The next day I dialed the number they’d given me. They said Karan wasn’t in the office. The day after that I called again. They said he was busy. And finally, my bubble burst when, the subsequent day, they told me bluntly ‘We only work with stars, and can’t work with you’.”
In a spot of destiny, Karan welcomed Ayushmann to his talk show, Koffee with Karan, in 2018, when Ayushmann had become a star. Moreover, the actor decided to reveal to him this story. “You gave me a landline number.
The next morning, when I called the number and requested to address Karan Johar, the individual on the other line stated, ‘We don’t try out outsiders and newcomers’ or something to that effect.”
Karan answered, “I gave you the correct number. That was very sweet of me! I must’ve thought that you have potential.” Ayushmann reacted by saying that the objective was to contact him, which didn’t happen.
