As much as I love and applaud Karan Johar for bringing sex and sexuality into our living rooms via mainstream Indian television, I have a bone to pick with him. I’ve watched every episode of Koffee With Karan this season, and I have to say that his easy-flowing conversation is turning into an obsessively intrusive sex-chat.
No, I’m not overreacting. Believe you me, I thought about that before I started this rant. Karan and his couch pals have us right where they want us. We love the show, friendly celebrity banter and watching the dynamics between our favourite stars unfold in a seemingly genuine manner. But surely, there’s more to celebs than their sex lives and sex drives. So why did his conversation with Jacqueline Fernandez and Sidharth Malhotra revolve mostly around their carnal cravings?
The actors hardly told us anything at all about their first film together. Eventually they gave in and played along with the I-could-be-hot-for-you-just-for-Karan-Johar act.
“I’m on top of you, but I’m doing a reading”- Karan seems to know exactly what transpired between the actors behind closed doors. How does that make him any different from the trolls and the tabloids, from where he derives his most favourite word ‘conjecture’? Maybe he can laugh this off sitting in his comfortable high chair, but to me he was just paparazzi in a pair of Christian Louboutins.
It was Jacqueline’s KWK debut and I guess she was pretty nervous about it too. The giggling didn’t serve as adequate camouflage either. But then Karan went on to say that he’s disappointed that she chose to come all ‘covered up’ for him. I’m surprised she isn’t offended by that. Sidharth saves the day by saying “we know she has it, she doesn’t have to flaunt it”.
The Koffee Shots With Karan round starts out subtly with ‘have you ever fantasised about a co-star’ and ‘have you ever been heartbroken?’. But soon enough, just like most Karan Johar films, subtlety goes out the window. The conversation now revolves around making out in airplanes, being in threesomes and handcuffs, spraying perfume on underwear (whatever that means!), and taking sexy showers with mysterious people. Jacqueline is clearly uncomfortable with all this ‘sexual’ talk. But all she does is giggle.
Karan, if you think I’m being a prude, let me just say this - you don’t need to try so hard to get celebrities to say controversial stuff. Also, controversies aren’t only made of sex. You seem to have evolved into a bold creative person, who is trying hard to push boundaries, both in cinema and as an individual.
But pushing your guests on national television about their sex lives, is a bit much, even by your filmi standards. Please stop. You’re only making the stereotype image of gay people worse with this overdose of sex.
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