Karan Johar responds to fans' question about casting Jaya Bachchan in 'nasty character'

In response to a critic who claimed that Karan Johar used Jaya Bachchan in his most recent movie Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani as a "nasty character," the director has responded.

Fans questioned the director during an interview with Indian Express, and Karan said that Jaya was cast as an "against type" to liven things up. 

After seven years, Karan made a comeback to directing movies with the new movie, which starred Jaya, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Shabana Azmi, and Dharmendra.

The fan claimed to adore the movie but stated that Karan Johar had offended him by using Jaya to play Dhanalaxmi Randhawa.

The filmmaker then said, "Sir, it was actually to cast against type. She has such a wonderful image on and off the screen. She is a mother figure to me. So, when I wanted to cast against type, I thought it would be a great role for her to go against what she has done. She is like a goody-goody. That was her personality on celluloid. So, sometimes it is nice to shake things up."

With Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Jaya decided to go against the grain in film. Before the 2023 movie, she consistently portrayed the stereotypically ideal girl or woman in all of her movies. Her character only displayed blatantly depressing emotions in the most recent movie.

In the movie Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Jaya plays Dharmendra's wife. In the movie, which also stars Shabana Azmi, Tota Roy Choudhary, Churni Ganguly, and Aamir Bashir, Ranveer and Alia are partnered opposite one another. The script and dialogue for the movie were co-written by Shashank Khaitan, Sumit Roy, and Ishita Moitra.

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani made $300 crore at the box office globally by the end of three weeks, with 140 crore coming from the Indian market.