‘She never liked me’: Karan Johar says he was scared for his life after clash with Saroj Khan on DDLJ set |

Karan Johar shared a gripping behind-the-scenes moment from ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,’ recalling a sudden fabric crisis that ignited a dramatic clash with the legendary choreographer Saroj Khan. As a young assistant director, Johar found himself racing through the streets of Goregaon, desperately hunting for red scarves.

Karan Johar still remembers the day a missing piece of fabric almost derailed a shoot on ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. The filmmaker, then a young assistant director, found himself on the receiving end of Saroj Khan’s anger after a last-minute request for red scarves for the background dancers. Speaking about the moment, he says the episode left him shaken, scrambling across Goregaon, and certain he was in serious trouble.

Karan Johar recalls DDLJ costume chaos

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Johar revisited the incident from the filming of ‘Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna’. A sudden order changed everything. “Red cloth… they wanted that. This was a demand given at the last minute,” he says. “Now, we only had so much cloth that I found.”

There were more dancers than fabric. Johar tried what he calls a clever workaround. “I, to save the situation, went to Jojo, Saroj ji’s assistant, and very cleverly said, you know, Jojo, I think accha lagega, unko bolo, apna ek haath pocket mein rakho, stylish lagega, cool lagega. Because I didn’t have any more cloth,” he laughs.For a short while, the trick helped. Then the choreographer walked in.

Saroj Khan confrontation on set

She immediately sensed something was off. Once she learned who had changed the styling, Johar says she called him out in front of the crew. “She literally pushed me,” he recalls. “She said, ‘Tu jahaan jaana chaahe, ja, Goregaon ja, laal kapda la, warna main shoot nahi karungi (go wherever you want, go to Goregaon, bring the red cloth, otherwise I will not shoot).’”What followed was panic. “I still remember the visual of us running on the streets of Goregaon saying, ‘laal kapda! Laal kapda!’ Panic set in. I was scared for my life,” he says. “I was traumatised, traumatised, you know, and she was really scary. Like, she was the best.”Johar adds that he was new and often offered opinions on clothing, which annoyed senior staff. Still, he links it to his love for fashion. “She somehow did not like me. She never liked me.”Looking back, he can only laugh. “Can you imagine, I’m a filmmaker, and I have so many costume stories?”