Karan Johar says intense love stories like Aashiqui, Saiyaara work because men don’t know how to face rejection

February 28, 2026 - 12:45 PM IST

While discussing box office trends on Founders Office with Sarthak Ahuja, Karan Johar offered an unexpected perspective on why certain love stories continue to work in theatres. He began by drawing a distinction. “The anomalies are very few, like… when you make a love story, a romcom, won’t work, but intense love stories work.”

Karan Johar says intense love stories like Aashiqui, Saiyaara work because men don’t know how to face rejection

He cited examples to underline the point. “So an Aashiqui will work, Saiyaara will work. Intensity in love people… It's called, what colloquially is called, the naskata audience… that people who die for love. That kind of feeling people love. That tier 2 audience wants to watch that kind of film.”

Referring to Aashiqui, Johar suggested that it is not romance in its light-hearted form that draws crowds today, but heightened emotional stakes — longing, heartbreak and sacrifice.

He then moved into a broader observation about gendered emotional responses. “The mass male audiences go for large numbers because I always say women are resilient, strong. They will overcome from a broken heart. Men don't know how to face rejection.”

He continued, “So all men only are suffering from broken hearts and they identify with stories of broken hearts. So all the biggest sad songs are all sung by men, are for men and you will be surprised while we talk about male entitlement or misogyny, but they are the weakest in love.”

For Johar, this emotional identification explains the enduring appeal of tragic or obsessive love narratives. They provide a space for male vulnerability — even if expressed through intensity or self-destruction.

Interestingly, this insight sits alongside his broader view that conventional romcoms and “casual easy bingy snack watch films” are largely thriving on streaming platforms. The theatrical pull, he argues, comes from heightened feeling — whether through scale, spectacle or emotional extremity.

In Johar’s reading of the current landscape, heartbreak — especially male heartbreak — continues to be a powerful cinematic currency. Not soft romance, but love pushed to its limits.

Also Read: Karan Johar describes his bank account as “naam bada, darshan chhota”; says, “I am nothing as compared to…”