PremiumKoffee with Karan Season 8 Episode 1 review: Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh bring a blend of love, laughter, life's realities, but Karan Johar's sensitive touch steals the moment
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh give a surprising dive into the heart of relationships on the opening episode of Koffee With Karan Season 8.
Last Updated: 01.26 PM, Oct 26, 2023
Karan Johar has returned! And to kick off the new season, he's got Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, who talk about their romance, their lavish wedding, and life as a married couple.
I think it was back in 2010–11, and the third season of Koffee With Karan dropped with no Shah Rukh Khan in the premiere episode. As a fan of the superstar, I had to wait for nine episodes to watch him appear solo on the talk show, and I think that was the last episode, which made me teary-eyed over the re-watching of it. Little did I know that the opening episode of the eighth season would give me that same feeling after so many years of watching Koffee With Karan.
The premiere episode, which dropped at midnight on October 26, had Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh coming together as a married couple for the first time after tying the knot for five years. The shocking rapid-fire winner for the episode was Deepika, and she won by a huge margin with like 73% votes, while Ranveer only got about 27% votes. Interestingly, it was the other way around in terms of the talking percentage of both on the episode.
Throughout the episode, it's RS doing most of the talking and DP being reserved and observant while listening to him and nodding her head continuously. It reminded me of the episode from Friends where Ross describes the imaginary proposal and Rachel hushes everyone else so that she can also hear it.
The episode, of course, begins with their love story being shared, and it was all from Ranveer's point of view, and Deepika's felt like letting the silence do most of the talking. Only in the wedding video do we see her talking about why she was attracted to him.
However, the talking point of the episode was definitely the unfiltered conversation about mental illness, and it was so heavy to take at midnight when you are already vulnerable. But the one who steals the moment entirely in the entire conversation is Karan Johar.
The host begins talking about loneliness and not finding a partner, while also asking both of them, like an eight-year-old, if marriage is too much work. It's in these moments that the episode is pure and subdued, which is not what Koffee with Karan is defined for.
The shift in gears continues with the fact that he didn't have a support system. Taking this discussion on a platform where people expect spicy stuff took me aback, but in the most righteous way. The acknowledgement in the whole sequence brought another level of depth to the entire episode, and all kudos to Karan Johar for bringing it up amid the gossip surrounding Deepika and Ranveer's relationship.
Interestingly, the filmmaker continued to steal the show even while dancing to The Disco Song while listening to the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham title track. Although the Imposter Challenge was a major disappointment, his dance and the black-and-white transformation will leave you in splits.
Ahead of the rapid fire, Deepika says, "Extra is his thing," while talking about Ranveer, and he proves it entirely through the episode. Well, the "extra" is also the couch, which looks hideous given that the couple donned an all-black look. The subtlety in their outfits replicated their answers and was very intense, even during the rapid-fire round.
Little criticisms to say, gone are the days when Deepika being "bitchy" on the couch alongside Sonam Kapoor and Ranveer Singh and putting Anushka Sharma in a bizarre situation made headlines. This time, her approach was quite calculative, where silence took most of the time, and Ranveer throwing in words like "throes of passion" will definitely leave you surprised.
However, the opening episode was all things "pyaari," about three very emotionally available people.
The opening episode of Koffee With Karan Season 8 takes a surprising and meaningful turn when it starts talking about mental health and the value of having somebody you can lean on. Karan Johar's deft handling of these touchy subjects improves the show's credibility.