Son of the illustrious producer, the late Yash Johar, Karan was born in Mumbai, India on the 25th of May 1972. He studied at the Green Lawns High School and attended H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, where he received a Master’s degree in French.

Through his growing up years, Karan was surrounded by the magic of movie making. His involvement in the scripting of Aditya Chopra's hugely successful “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” prompted Karan to write his first script, and in 1998, at the young age of 25, Karan made his directorial debut with “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”. A landmark film, appreciated both critically and commercially worldwide, instantly catapulted Karan into the league of influential Indian filmmakers.

“Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” opened to widespread acclaim and earned Karan Johar several prestigious awards for direction, story, screenplay and dialogues. Karan followed up the success of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 2001 with an opulent multi starrer “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G)”, breaking box office records all over the world.

Karan Johar’s magic transcended to the small screen with Koffee with Karan, which concluded its third popular season this year. It still remains India's biggest celebrity chat show. Karan also emerged as one of India's young thinking leaders and was chosen as one of 250 Global Young Leaders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum 2006.

Karan also addressed the Wharton India Economic Forum 2006 held at the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi in November 2006. He also spoke to the students of New York University in February 2008 and has also been a distinguished speaker at the INDIA CONFERENCE 2008 at Harvard Business School in March that year. He also addressed the India Business Conference at the Kellogg School of Management in May 2008. On September 30th, 2006 he became the first Indian filmmaker to be a jury member in the Miss World competition, in Warsaw, Poland.

Karan’s love for fashion has fructified into a men’s fashion label in collaboration with the popular Indian fashion designer Varun Bahl. With this association Karan hopes to make a mark into the global fashion scene and further showcase his strengths as a fashion designer and style icon.

KARAN’S MILESTONES

1998 -Karan Johar makes his directorial debut with “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”. A landmark film, it is appreciated worldwide and instantly catapults him into the league of influential Indian filmmakers.

2001 -“Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham” features in the UK charts for four weeks (entering at No. 3, December 14th, 2001 weekend). “K3G” still holds the prestigious record of being the first Indian film to enter the US top ten charts.

2004 -“Kal Ho Naa Ho”, written and produced by Karan Johar releases, and is a global blockbuster, fetching a National Award for its music score.

2006 -Karan returns to directing with a multi-starrer, “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna”. “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” sees Karan Johar explore relationships through an unusual perspective, marking a change in his storytelling. The film talks about infidelity and sparks off debate and discussions all over the country.

2010 -Karan’s epic love story, “My Name is Khan” releases. Focusing on a remarkable story between a Muslim man suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome and a single, Hindu mother, the story touches on the issue of global terrorism, and one man’s journey to change the way people are perceived and treated in the world. The film witnesses a record breaking release worldwide and proves that Karan Johar’s films break barriers of language, religion, and culture, highlighted by the enthusiastic response the film received at Berlinale in February, 2010.

AWARDS

Karan has won numerous awards for his films, including Filmfare Awards (Direction, Screenplay and Dialogue), IIFA Popular Awards (Story), Sansui Viewer's Choice Awards (Director, Screenplay, Story) and Screen Awards (Director, Screenplay and Story). But not willing to rest on his accolades he has facilitated the remarkable emergence of talent in the last few years by mentoring fresh talent under his banner, Dharma Productions. The success of Dostana, Wake Up Sid, Kurbaan and “I Hate Luv Storys” are standing testimony to his vision.

His small screen forays also have garnered him many awards including two ITA awards (for Best Talk Show Host), two RAPA awards (Best Host, Best Talk Show Host) and the Global Indian TV Honours (Global Achievement and Best Anchor).