Throwback: When Karan Johar’s production house told Ayushmann Khurrana that they only work with ‘stars’

Back in the days when Ayushmann Khurrana was a radio jockey, Karan Johar’s production house told him that they only work with stars!

Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise and his battle with depression has once again sparked the debate of nepotism in Bollywood. An excerpt from Ayushmann Khurrana’s book ‘Cracking the Code: My Journey in Bollywood’ has gone viral now.

It part of the book narrates an incident where Karan Johar’s production house, Dharma Productions told the actor that they only work with stars. Ayushmann had met KJo during an award show when he was a radio jockey.

The excerpt reads, “Karan gave me the landline number to his office when I met him. I should have taken a hint there and then. But I was so excited! I even planned exactly when I would make the call: sometime around 11:30 am, so he’d be done with breakfast and available to talk.”

It continues saying, “The next day I dialled the number they’d given me. They said Karan wasn’t in office. The day after that I called again. They said he was busy. And finally, my bubble burst when, the subsequent day, they told me bluntly ‘We only work with stars, and can’t work with you’.”

In a very interesting co-incidence years later, Ayushmann recalled the same as he was on Koffee With Karan. He told the filmmaker “You gave me a landline number. The next morning, when I called the number and asked to speak to Karan Johar, the person on the other line said, ‘We don’t audition outsiders and newcomers’ or something like that.”

Karan seemed really surprised to know about it as he said, “I gave you the right number. That was very sweet of me! I must’ve thought that you have potential.” To this the actor said that his goal was not fulfilled which was to actually reach him.