Karan Johar apologizes for ‘hurting’ Assamese sentiments

When on camera, be careful of every move you make, every word you say, for you never know what could come back to haunt you. Filmmaker Karan Johar has now apologized for ‘hurting’ the sentiments of Assamese people.

The incident happened during the reality TV show India’s Got Talent, which is aired on the Hindi general entertainment channel Colors.

Kirron Kher, Karan Johar’s fellow judge on the show, was gifted a jaapi, a traditional Assamese hat, by a contestant. Johar posted an Instagram video in which Kher is seen asking him to put on the headgear and he declines. Johar has since deleted that post.

In the video, Johar appears to be mocking Kher for what she is wearing, asking, “Oh my god, what is that you are wearing on your head?” Kher grimaces and says, ”These people from Arunachal Pradesh have gifted this to me.“

When Kher asks Johar why he is not wearing his hat, the filmmaker replies, ”Because you have guts and I don’t.”

Johar then laughs and tells Kher she looks as if she is about to break into a qawwali. The actress mocks Johar asking how she can break into a qawwali wearing a bamboo hat and remarks that he doesn’t even know the states of the country.

Little did Johar realize that this video would not be taken to kindly by the people from Northeast India. A Mumbai-based journalist, who hails from Assam, tweeted to Johar and the TV channel explaining how dear the jaapi is to the Assamese and said his actions had hurt Assamese sentiments.

The Dharma Productions head honcho then issued an apology to the Assamese and anyone else who felt hurt.

“You are absolutely right and I would like to apologize if I have hurt any sentiments,” he wrote on Twitter. “It was unintentional and came from a place of no knowledge, which is no excuse.”