Happy Birthday Karan Johar

Karan Dharma Kama Johar better known as Karan Johar was born on 25th May, 1974 to the late Yash Johar and Hiru Johar. He studied in Mumbai at Greenlawns High School and then went on to graduate from HR College of Commerce and Economics and obtained a Masters Degree in French. Since childhood, Johar has been driven by movie makers like Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra, and Sooraj R. Barjatya.

Johar began his career as an actor in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) in a small cameo. Along with acting he joined the sets as an assistant director and helped director Aditya Chopra in writing the screenplay for the movie. He then designed costumes for Shah Rukh Khan in Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Duplicate (1998), something he continued to do even after becoming a successful director, before making his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol Devgn, and Rani Mukherjee. The movie went on to become a huge success and is still considered a cult movie. Johar won several awards for the movie including the National Film Award for Best Film for providing wholesome entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

Johar's second directorial movie came three years later with the family drama, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) which became another Johar hit with five Filmfare Awards and several other accolades. After this, there was no stopping him as we went on to direct movies such as Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), My Name is Khan (2010), Student of the Year (2012) and Bombay Talkies (2013).

Johar is also a producer and has produced many successful movies under his banner, Dharma Productions, such as Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Dostana (2008), Wake Up Sid (2009), I Hate Luv Storys (2010), Agneepath (2012), Student of the Year (2012), Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) and 2 States (2014).

In 2004, Johar also ventured into the realm of television with the celebrity-based chat show Koffee with Karan, which became a huge success. He then hosted the 2010 show Lift Kara De and is now most recently involved with Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and India's Got Talent as a judge.

Currently Johar is producing Shuddhi, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Badtameez Dil and Ungli, among a few more movies. He is also directing and producing the animated version of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai called Koochie Koochie Hota Hai, which was supposed to have released in 2012 but got delayed and now is expected to release soon.

On  his birthday here is a playlist of some songs from movies he has directed or produced:

Graphics: Preet K.