"They are absolutely nobodies; they don't belong to anyone."
Karan Johar called Bollywood actors “insecure” as he called talent management a “thankless job”.
The comments come a few months after Janhvi Kapoor switched from Karan’s Dharma Cornerstone Artist Agency (DCAA) to Collective Artist Network.
Several actors have shifted representation despite long associations with their agencies. Ranveer Singh and Parineeti Chopra both left YRF’s talent management agency after being with them for many years.
Actors depend heavily on agencies to secure film projects, brand endorsements and public appearances. However, Karan Johar said loyalty is not common in the business.
Karan said talent management is a “thankless job” as “nobody is really loyal”.
He elaborated: “Every two years, people are shifting from one agency to another because they are so insecure that they feel we are time-bound.
“Nobody is loyal in this business, actors just keep hopping and skipping.
“So you put two years of your life into a talent and they suddenly move somewhere else and then they don’t like it there and they want to come back to you. This is a vicious circle.”
Karan also spoke about the financial realities of running a talent agency, admitting that it is difficult to make money by relying only on artist commissions.
He said: “Just commission on artists is going to give you nothing because artists are nobodies. They are absolutely nobodies; they don’t belong to anyone.
Karan Johar entered talent management because it comes naturally to him. He described the work as largely focused on managing personalities and emotions.
He added: “Handling people, egos, insecurities and it’s not easy.
“If you look at talent management as a business opportunity, nothing is going to happen.”
Reflecting on his career, Karan spoke about his outlook on success and failure:
“After being in the business for 31 years, I have become zen about success and failure because I feel like my joy and sorrow cannot be the result of my success and failure because then I will be in an ICU.”
On his partnership with Adar Poonawalla, Karan said the investment was part of a diversification strategy and suggested that Adar may eventually exit the business.
He said: “I think this was a move towards diversification but with him, it’s a balance.
“I’m sure at some point, he is looking for an exit out of this deal because he is a businessman and this is a business. But also, I think he is a lover of the arts. But he is very clear.
“Maybe the return at that point, after 8 or 10 years or whenever he is looking at it is not magnificently huge but enough to have satiated him, to have satiated his creativity or rather his diversification needs as well as given him that kind of glory.”
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