Karan Johar Opens Up About Being Bullied As A Child

Note: Bullying can never be justified. It’s neither cool nor acceptable. 

According to a study published by NLM, it was found that children who have been victims of bullying are more likely to be diagnosed with problems like anxiety and depression during young and middle adulthood. The victims were also found to be at an increased risk of having suicidal tendencies and displaying psychotic behaviour. 

Bullying refers to repetitive, aggressive behaviour which can be physical or emotional, and it can involve things like verbal aggression, hitting, stealing, calling names, cyber-bullying, spreading rumours, and calling names. This can happen to anyone, even if you are a celebrity. In a recent interview with Dr. Jai Madaan, Karan Johar shared how he was bullied by his peers because he was different from the boys around him.  Read to know.

Reason Behind Karan Johar’s Weight Gain

Karan Johar struggled with obesity as a child because he turned to food as a coping mechanism and as such became an easy target for the bullies. In the interview, he shared, “There was a time when I started understanding myself and I feel it happened to me a little earlier than it normally does. I started realising that I’m not like other boys. What they want to do, what they want to say, the games & sports that they are interested in, things they talk about, their overall personality, I’m not like them. And, I went into some kind of zone, because the weight that I put on was between the ages of 7 and 9.”

At that point, Karan started believing that he was only going to find comfort in food, desserts, and chocolates. “The comfort that I was trying to look for somewhere else, I found it there (in food)”

It was years later that he came to the realisation that he needed to accept who he is and be happy with it rather than wondering why he is not like the others and make it his “armour and strength”

Karan Johar On Being Bullied 

Recalling his college days, Karan shared, “When you are of a size, there are people who fat shame you, they call you names. People are very insensitive to that. They basically try to hide their own shortcomings and their defense mechanism they use for it is to attack someone else.” The word that bothered him the most was ‘pansy’. “I’ve heard this word a lot in the 80s, going up to the early 90s. The word used to bother me the most. It wasn’t the jokes on my weight but it was these particular comments which felt like a verbal attack on my core being, my personality.” 

Karan found it difficult to express himself and his choices and whenever he was bullied, it made him question his very being. 

Karan’s Funda For Overcoming Bullying 

Karan said “I definitely think that whenever someone tries to pull you down, two things can happen. Either you allow the circumstances to take you down or you feel that this will give you the fuel to rise, and that’s what happened with me. Without any negativity, anger, and resentment, I decided that I am going to one day be known in this world.” 

Karan won half the battle when he accepted himself and the other half when he decided to prove himself. The rest, as they say, is history. He is one of India’s leading directors and a source of inspiration for many. Do you find his story inspirational? Do let us know.