‘Koffee with Karan’ is a show that needs no introduction. With a smile, a wink and a smirk, Karan conveys more than his guests usually like to admit. Karan Johar’s show can boast of some of the best known and most loved faces of Bollywood. In spite of it being an English show it grabs viewership even from people who aren’t so well versed with the language. Evidently, the reason is its Bollywood connection and the exclusive “bytes” that the guests give out to their friend Karan.
First things first, what is it in ‘Koffee with Karan’ that sets it apart from all other such celebrity chat shows? What is it that makes it impossible for reclusive and interview shy (notably, Ajay Devgn and the Deols) actors to turn up, looking all dapper, ready to answer nonsensical questions? Ah, well … we are basically looking for the “wow factor” of this show.
Why is KWK hot?
Amongst the couple of things that must be getting these stars on to Karan’s Kouch (ouch!!) are
– Karan’s close relationships with a large percentage of the film industry … in fact, at times he finds himself mediating between different warring parties. Amazingly enough, he is friends to so many people of many different “camps”.
– For the stars, being on KWK has become a status symbol of sorts.
– The show’s immense popularity gives the actors lots of exposure, mileage and ego boost.
– Actors, or stars rather, crave publicity at one point of their careers or another. For some reasons, some stars come out there and show a different side to their nature. Probably it’s scripted and it was meant to be a PR exercise any which way.
The show has completed 2 seasons and began its third season in December 2010. Some of the most frequent stars on KWK have been Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukherjee.
The USP:
Undoubtedly, the USP of ‘Koffee with Karan’ is Karan Johar. Karan Johar is friends with any and all in the industry, at least with all the top rung ones. He has great interpersonal skills and coming on to the show is more like a two way pleasure for the host as well as the guest. Most guests want to be on the Kouch anyway and even those who don’t, end up doing it because they can’t refuse when Karan Johar asks them to his show.
Karan’s highly polished communication skills and intimate mannerism, has managed to make the show unique. His “lie-o-meter”, “coffee hamper” and “rapid fire rounds” add more masala to the show. KWK has always been keen on being a show which brings out unknown facts and scoops about the stars. So, while the good part of peoples’ lives is usually narrated by Karan, he relies on the “lie-o-meter” to indicate when a guest lies about affairs and relationships.
While quizzing the guests about their under-the-wraps love life, Karan quirks an eyebrow and smirks and smiles … so even when the star has refused point blank about their alleged affair, the audience knows for sure that there is lots of truth in the rumors. He conveys the truth without saying anything and for these antics of his, the audience waits up for the next week’s show.
Best episodes/guests till date:
Rakhi Sawant (Season 2):
Rakhi Sawant was her usual loud self and somehow her over-the-top honesty and candidness came across as very endearing and entertaining. Karan admitted to it being one of his favorite episodes. Interestingly, this was perhaps the only episode which was largely in Hindi.
Deepika-Sonam (Season 3):
The girls came across as candid yet dumb, at some points of time in the episode. Still it was completely refreshing to see some young faces on the show, that weren’t afraid to call a spade, a spade. The girls’ entertained the audience and the media got lots of gossip.
Watch the infamous Deepika-Sonam episode:
[youtube width=”480″ height=”269″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm2sZeBFIPU[/youtube]
Rani-Kareena (Season 1):
Rani was on a high after a long low in her career. Kareena was still testing waters, though charging astronomical prices. You would love their relative innocence if you saw this episode today.
Kajol-Shahrukh-Rani (Season 2):
A chilled out episode, especially when Shahrukh came aboard. He broke the ice and made the scene look vibrant and complete.
Putting it all in perspective:
‘Koffee with Karan’ began in the November of 2004 and much water has flown under the bridge since then. When the third season started Karan looked considerably mature and much leaner. Gone were the days of happy flirting and puppy love. Almost all his previous guests have either married or left their previous flame. In fact, it makes for an interesting study to see the same people sitting across the couch with totally new people this time.
Karan is a dedicated matchmaker and he has played cupid amongst various friends of his, several times over. It is a well known fact that Aishwarya and Abhishek were hooked up courtesy to Karan. Several years ago, he also tried to create “a little something between Preity and Abhishek”.
Shahrukh is Karan’s best friend. Everybody knows that. Shahrukh has graced all seasons of KWK, but his latest appearance (Season 3) was insipid, at best. Somewhere along the line, the unique freshness of the show has worn off and now it often feels like you’ve heard those conversations a hundred times, in some form or the other.
If you go and watch some of the older episodes of ‘Koffee with Karan’, you feel kind of nostalgic seeing the plumpier Kareena (glowing with her new found love, Shahid – season 1), the more level headed Rani (compare season 1 where she sounds oh-so- sensible and season 3 where she makes a complete fool of herself) and a more grounded and Shahrukh (compare season 1 where Shahrukh is fun and exciting and season 3 where he sounds so cocky and depressing at the same time).
In fact, it all makes for a very interesting case study. Just see how Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor gushed about their love for each other in season 2 and, came back with different partners (Shahid with Priyanka and Kareena with Saif) in season 3.
Whom we’d like to see on KWK:
Shahrukh, Aamir and Salman:
Nobody, other than KJo can pull that off. If he manages to get the three stars together on one couch, it would be a monumental victory in the history of couch-dom.
Madhuri Dixit and Shreeram Nene:
Even today, everybody loves Madhuri. The man you makes Madhuri’s heart go dhak-dhak has been most reclusive and almost nothing is known about him. It would be interesting to see them talk about their life.
Somebody interviewing Karan:
Karan has been so reclusive about his own love life and personal relationships. It would be interestin g to see somebody else play the host and use the lie-o-meter on him. There is absolutely no scoop on Karan. Hope Karan would put that straight too.
Shahrukh, Aamir and Salman: Nobody, other than KJo can pull that off. If he manages to get the three stars together on one couch, it would be a monumental victory in the history of couch-dom.
Madhuri Dixit and Shreeram Nene: Even today, everybody loves Madhuri. The man you makes Madhuri’s heart go dhak-dhak has been most reclusive and almost nothing is known about him. It would be interesting to see them talk about their life.
Somebody interviewing Karan: Karan has been so reclusive about his own love life and personal relationships. It would be interestin g to see somebody else play the host and use the lie-o-meter on him. There is absolutely no scoop on Karan. Hope Karan would put that straight too.
