News18
Lakshya’s debut film Kill is currently running in theatres.
Lakshya reveals Karan Johar’s reaction after he watched the rushes of Kill for the first time. He also shares the most valued lesson Karan taught him.
Kill continues to run in theatres even three weeks after its release. It might have had a slow start at the box office but picked up owing to positive word mouth and is steadily inching towards the Rs 50 crore mark worldwide. The film marks the debut of Lakshya and it’s safe to say that he has already piqued the curiosity of filmmakers with many including the likes of Imtiaz Ali and Kabir Khan heaping praise on him.
And Lakshya’s equally thrilled to have Karan Johar as a collaborator and producer on his first theatrical release. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, he admits to Karan being a mentor figure for him. For Lakshya, there’s one episode that involved a conversation between the two of them on the paparazzi culture that has stayed back with him. “At that time when I broke in and knew that I was doing Dostana 2 and that I’m a part of Dharma, the paparazzi culture had just about started. People were constantly being clicked everywhere,” he tells us.
He further recalls, “Aapke airport look hai, mayyat look hai, basically har tarah ke looks bann rahe hai. That made me wonder how I’m going to pull it off because it involves a certain kind of strategy. I had never done all of that. I remember telling my PR if it’s okay if I choose not to do all that. I was stuttering even while I was conveying this to her.”
Talking about Karan’s reaction, who interestingly isn’t the one to shy away from the shutterbugs and the limelight, Lakshya says, “Karan sir was also in the same room and they both started laughing at me. He told me, ‘What’s wrong with you? We’re launching you in a film and you’re thinking of such petty stuff!’ I explained to him that I’m very concerned about it because being on Instagram and out there don’t come naturally to me.”
And that led the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani director to impart a valuable lesson to Lakshya who keeps it close to his heart till this date. “He understood and then told me that all I need to do is be true to myself and that I shouldn’t try to portray a certain image or sound like anyone else. And that stayed with me through all these years. His words truly resonated with me,” he shares.
Lakshya also reveals that Karan’s encouragement during the initial shoot days of Kill means a lot to him. “One day at 4 pm, I came to know that Karan sir is coming to the set to see whatever we had shot so far. When he walked in, Nikhil (Bhat; director) and I kept thinking if he would like the film. Itna khoon kharaba macha diya hai humne. It’s not like any other Dharma film. After seeing the rushes, he put his hand over my head saying, ‘God bless you, son.’ He knew we were making something really good and when a guy of his stature acknowledges that, it’s really fulfilling,” he says.
