Amid Dhurandhar 2 success, Karan Johar slams Bollywood’s ‘hyper-masculinity’ obsession: ‘They’ll all have beards and will smoke’ | Bollywood News
3 min readNew DelhiApr 26, 2026 02:24 PM Filmmaker Karan Johar has weighed in on Bollywood’s shifting trends, criticising what he calls a growing herd mentality driven the success of hyper-masculine, male-led films like Animal and Dhurandhar.
During a chat with The Week, Karan pointed out the recent male-centric narratives in films, in which aggression and machismo are the main focus. “If one film works in a certain zone, there will be 10 more. So you will see 10 more high-octane testosterone movies where men are just walking in slow motion for no reason and going nowhere in particular, but they will be walking in that way. They’ll all have beards and they will all smoke. Apparently, that’s what women like to watch, or at least, that’s what the men think,” he said. Having said that, the filmmaker pointed out that the only ray of hope for variety is the digital medium, where stories are more interesting.
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Karan Johar also opened up about the criticism he received for showing a different kind of masculinity in his 2023 film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Recalling the backlash around a scene featuring a male actor performing classical dance, he shared, “I had a whole barrage of mainstream audiences who asked, ‘How could you depict a man like that?’ And I’m like, if I am going to focus my attention on a certain audience and not have conviction, then why am I here? I am a born femin and will always tell a femin story.”
Several recent releases, such as Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor; Unni Mukundan-led Marco; and Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, among others, have showcased similar visuals, marked rugged looks, smoking, intense violence, and gory action.
On the professional front, Karan Johar is looking forward to the release of his upcoming film Chaand Mera Dil. Directed Vivek Soni and produced Dharma Productions, the romantic drama features Ananya Panday and Lakshay in lead roles. He also has Nagzilla, featuring Kartik Aaryan, in the pipeline. Recently, the filmmaker also confirmed the comeback of his talk show Koffee With Karan.
