Karan Johar revisits emotional Cannes journey ahead of Homebound premiere: My father sold Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham's European rights for 5000 Dollars and I thought...

Karan Johar at Cannes

As the French Riviera lights up once again with the glamour and grandeur of the Cannes Film Festival, renowned filmmaker Karan Johar returns to the iconic event with his cinematic venture, Homebound, set to premiere on 21st May worldwide.

Karan, however, views Cannes as a place rich in both professional and deeply personal memories, not just the red carpet.

The renowned producer and director recently talked candidly with Brut about his more than 20-year-old emotional bond with the festival. Johar recounted a moving story about his late father, the renowned director Yash Johar, from 2002.

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“I have actually a lot of emotional memories related to Cannes,” he began. “I remember in 2002, when me and my father were here at the Cannes market and I still remember, he struck a deal which I thought at that time… and I told him like this scene is not really consequence because I remember he sold the European rights for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham for 5 thousand dollars, and at that time I was like, 5 thousand dollars—isn’t that very little? And he said look, it’s a start, we have to see.”

Though his father was not alive to witness the ripple effect that would follow, Johar acknowledges the moment as a crucial milestone. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t alive to see the massive impact that began from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and went on to all the Shah Rukh Khan movies and created such a huge cultural movement for our cinema in Europe.”

2002 was also a landmark year for Indian cinema at Cannes, marked by the grand screening of Devdas. “That was also the year that Devdas had a beautiful screening and Aishwarya and Shah Rukh were on the red carpet and Aishwarya of course is like literally the queen of Cannes. Every time she is here she creates such a huge amount of media energy and excitement and she is here again.”

Also Read: Aishwarya Rai arrives in France for Cannes 2025 with daughter Aaradhya Bachchan

Reflecting further, Johar remembered his return to the festival in 2013, this time as a filmmaker. “I came back at the capacity of the filmmaker when we got selected in the Director's Fortnight in 2013 for Bombay Talkies with Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and myself… and it was that particular year that I met Guneet Monga and I saw Lunchbox, which was actually doing so phenomenal and was getting so much love.”

Now, with Homebound ready for its big Cannes debut, Karan's journey comes full circle—honouring his past while continuing to shape the global future of Indian cinema.