Filmmaker Karan Johar stirred a conversation around Bollywood’s publicity culture and called out what he describes as an overdependence on PR and “method marketing” among actors. In a recent interview, the director responded to an audience question that referenced younger actors like Janhvi Kapoor and Shanaya Kapoor. He made it clear that his remarks were not targeted at specific individuals but at the industry as a whole. Karan Johar questions Bollywood’s PR cultureSharing his candid take, Johar told The Week, “I think Bollywood should stop doing PR. It will be much better. They should let their achievement speak for itself because unfortunately all of the PR is now paid PR. If you want to say ‘You are looking gorgeous’, you just have to pay. If you want to say that you are the best actor on planet Earth, you have to pay.” He also criticised the reliance on image-building, adding, “So I think we are on over drive mode when it comes to PR. So whether they are doing method marketing or not is secondary. They should stop marketing themselves and let their work speak for themselves. I don’t mean the people you are talking about I mean everyone in general. Because I think PR’s becoming into overdrive mode. There’s a certain way of doing it. Publicity, marketing- these are very important work categories and this should be treated in that specific way.”
Concerns over paid publicity
Karan further spoke about how paid promotions have blurred the line between genuine audience response and manufactured perception. Opening up on the impact, he said, “Now everything is available at a price and that is something that could be deeply upsetting because then you really can’t gauge what’s connecting and what’s now. Are people liking it or are paid to like it? I don’t know, I can’t tell half the time. Its confusing me because even I am sometimes paying for it.” Karan also shared an update on his chat show Koffee With Karan. The filmmaker revealed that its ninth season is expected to premiere around Diwali 2026, much to the excitement of fans.