When Karan Johar saw Ranveer Singh’s poster and thought ‘who is going to see’ Band Baaja Baaraat, felt like ‘fool’ later

Ranveer Singh has come a long way since he made his Bollywood debut with Band Baaja Baaraat in 2010, and has achieved that rare feat of both critical and commercial success. But did you know that Karan Johar was highly unimpressed by Ranveer when he first saw him at the Yash Raj Films office?

As Ranveer Singh turns 36, here is revisiting his first appearance on Koffee With Karan in 2010, where Karan Johar admitted to doubting Aditya Chopra’s faith in him. Karan even advised Aditya against casting Ranveer because of his looks. However, after watching Ranveer in Band Baaja Baaraat, Karan was blown away.

Karan revealed that he was in the Yash Raj Films studio to have lunch with Aditya and Yash Johar, when he saw Ranveer for the first time, playing table tennis. Karan mistook Ranveer for an assistant director but was informed that he is the ‘new boy in Band Baaja Baaraat’.

“So I said, ‘He is in Band Baaja Baaraat?’ Adi said, ‘He is a really good actor, you have no idea how good he is.’ I said, ‘It doesn't matter, but he looks like this’,” Karan said, as Ranveer got mock-upset and pretended to get up and leave.

Karan then saw Ranveer in the Band Baaja Baaraat poster and asked Aditya to change it. Karan recalled thinking, “Who is going to see this film?” Aditya urged him to see the trailer before making any judgment.

“I saw the promo and I was like, ‘This boy actually has a sense of confidence and there is something about him. But it’s not reflective in that poster, change that poster.’ I was like, I have no hope,” Karan said. However, he was forced to eat his words when he actually watched Band Baaja Baaraat. “I went to see this film and I was like, ‘Oh my God, he (Ranveer) is a movie star. He is a bloody movie star’,” he said. He added that he felt like the ‘biggest fool’ for underestimating Ranveer and Anushka Sharma.

Karan has now signed Ranveer for his next directorial venture, an ambitious period drama titled Takht. The film, which also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, was set to go on floors last year but has been indefinitely pushed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.