Exclusive: Rivalry intensifies between friends Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar

While Aditya Chopra’s last two releases Befikre and Meri Pyari Bindu have severely under-performed at the box office, his best friend Karan Johar’s Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya and Baahubali 2 have both been blockbusters. An astute trade watcher observes, “Clearly, the letter ‘B’ has been very lucky for Karan Johar, but it hasn’t been at all lucky for Aditya Chopra.

So maybe Adi needs to consult a reliable astrologer.” Interestingly, the two banners have been producing similar films for a while. When Karan produced Kurbaan about a Jihadi terrorist in the US, Aditya made Kabir Khan’s New York on the same theme. While New York clicked, Kurbaan bombed. Now the Chopras’ Meri Pyari Bindu looks like a carryover from Karan’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Karan’s film on unrequited love was a hit but Adi’s take on the same has failed. The war between the two biggest production houses of Bollywood is set to get fiercer in the coming months. Poaching of directors has already begun. For starters, Siddharth P. Malhotra who directed We Are Family for Karan Johar has moved to Yash Raj Films to direct Rani Mukherjee in Hichki.