Karan Johar Reflects on Friendships That Shaped Him
On Friendship Day, Karan Johar shares a personal note recalling childhood friends Farzana Muncherjee and Apoorva Mehta and the lasting value of true companionship.
Mumbai: Filmmaker Karan Johar has reflected on the friendships that shaped his life, describing how key companions helped him move beyond self-doubt and find his place both personally and professionally.
On the occasion of Friendship Day, Johar shared a detailed note on Instagram recalling formative relationships from his childhood and school years. He began by describing himself as a plus-size only child who often watched other children play from his building window and wondered why he had no friends. Self-pity, he wrote, became a familiar companion until a gregarious Parsi girl named Farzana Muncherjee entered his life.
“She swooped me out of my slumber and made me realise I was a hyper melodramatic drama queen and all I needed was to get out of my bedroom and create a new space for myself. She was my first friend. And my journey with friendship began,” he wrote, adding that 47 years later she remains an important part of his life.
Johar then recounted a second defining friendship that began in the sixth standard. After a secretarial error placed him in a different section where he knew no one, his principal asked the class who would be his friend. Following an awkward silence, Apoorva Mehta raised his hand. Mehta, who is now CEO of Dharma Productions and one of Johar’s closest associates, simply told him to bring vegetarian snacks the next day.
That moment, Johar said, marked a turning point. Mehta helped him make other friends and, more importantly, encouraged him to move past insecurities about his appearance and personality. “I realised I needed to get over my own complexes... and embrace myself and people will then embrace me,” he wrote.
Johar described his present-day friends as family and said recent circumstances had reinforced the value of those bonds. He noted that he spent 15 days in an ICU with his mother, who has since recovered and returned home. The experience, he said, made clear how much support he has in his life.
“No matter what your wealth may be – the only investment that will always reap rich dividends is friendship,” he wrote. He thanked his friends for standing by him through difficult periods and expressed lifelong love and loyalty to them.
The reflective post blends personal vulnerability with gratitude, tracing a path from childhood isolation to enduring adult relationships that have influenced both his private life and professional journey. By highlighting the ordinary yet decisive moments in which others chose to include him, Johar underscored the quiet power of consistent companionship.
