Karan Johar to return to director’s chair, to announce next film today

Superstar director Karan Johar is set to announce his next directorial venture – his first full-length feature film – at 11 am today. Sharing the news on his official Twitter handle, Johar wrote that it was the beginning of a “new journey” and his “way back home”. “It’s time to go back to my favourite place, it’s time to create some eternal love stories from behind the lens,” Johar wrote, alongside a video montage of himself as a director and snippets from some of his films. He added that it would be “a very special story” that would be “immersed in the roots of love and family”.

This would be Johar’s first full-length feature film since his last directorial venture Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2016. He has directed two a segment each in Lust Stories and Ghost Stories during this time. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Anushka Sharma in lead roles and also featured cameos by Shah Rukh Khan and Fawad Khan. However, the film courted controversy due to the presence of Fawad Khan, a superstar of the Pakistan film industry.

Johar’s announcement comes merely days after he announced details of a film on C. Sankaran Nair, former president of the Indian National Congress and also a lawyer-activist – under the banner of his production house. Karan Singh Tyagi will helm the film – The Untold Story of C Sankaran Nair.

The filmmaker had announced Takht, a period drama from the Mughal era, to be his next feature film in August 2018, with shooting set to begin in September 2019. However, there has been no further update regarding the film, which was supposed to feature Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bhumi Pednekar, Vicky Kaushal, Janhvi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. Johar debuted as a director with the 1998 smash hit Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and directed other superhit fims, including Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, My Name Is Khan, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, and Student Of The Year.