Filmmaker Karan Johar has opened up about the deeply divided audience response to his directorial 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna' (KANK) as the film marks its 20th anniversary, recalling raw, first-hand encounters that ranged from quiet admiration to near-confrontations outside cinema halls.

The Night Before Release

In a lengthy note shared on his Instagram, Johar described attending a paid preview the night before the film's release, watching incognito from behind a traditionally dressed middle-aged couple. When a pivotal scene between characters Dev and Maya unfolded in a hotel elevator — one that made clear their emotional and physical connection — the woman in the couple dropped her popcorn in shock. Her husband, initially dismissing the scene as a 'dream sequence' in Gujarati, realised his mistake and promptly steered them both out of the hall. 'My heart sank,' Johar recalled.

Angry Mothers, Secret Admirers

The anecdotes did not stop there. Outside the preview, a mother approached Johar with her tearful daughter — who had just gone through a divorce that very day — furious that what she expected to be a wholesome, 'songs and dances and family values' film had turned into something far more unsettling. 'Shame on you,' she told him, prompting Johar to, by his own admission, 'scurry away.'

Weeks later, at an airport lounge, a woman told him she had loved the film — but had lied to her husband and claimed she hated it. Her reason: if she admitted she loved it, he would ask what specifically she liked, and that conversation felt too risky to have. Johar described himself as 'semi relieved' by the exchange.

Acknowledging the Film's Flaws

Johar did not shy away from self-criticism. He conceded that KANK was 'over bloated in scale' and contained 'opulent and some unnecessary songs' — a candid admission that will resonate with critics who felt the film's runtime worked against its emotional core. He framed these choices as an attempt to cater to mainstream expectations, even as the film's central theme — the quiet devastation of stepping outside the boundaries of marriage — was always meant to be uncomfortable.

'The film did not endorse infidelity — that was never ever my intention,' he wrote, 'but it did show that stepping out of the boundary of marriage to seek love or desire can destroy your very foundation and family.'

What KANK Was Really About

Johar argued that the film was always intended to provoke thought rather than offer resolution. 'We want life to give us black and white solutions to all our relationship traumas,' he wrote, 'but can we look at it with a grey lens? Maybe then we will understand ourselves better.' He noted that two decades on, he regularly meets people who say they could not relate to the film at the time of release but understand it far better now.

He closed his note with gratitude to the film's 'incredible cast and crew family,' saying he would 'always be indebted to them for their passion and compassion.' With KANK turning 20, its reputation — once a lightning rod for controversy — appears to be quietly, if unevenly, rehabilitating itself.