Karan Johar apologises to Madhur Bhandarkar, Bhandarkar accepts apology

The controversy over Madhur Bhandarkar accusing Karan Johar for twisting title of his film Bollywood Wives for his upcoming series titled Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives has now been settled with Karan tendering an apology and Madhur Bhandakar accepting the apology.

Responding to Madhur Bhandarkar's accusation, Karan Johar said that the title, format, nature and audience of his show is entirely different fromthat of Madhur's film. He also added that he didn’t intend to upset Bhandarkar and that it won’t dent the exploration of the latter’s work.

In his open letter to Bhandarkar, Karan said, "Dear Madhur, Our relationship goes back a long way and we have both been a part of this close-knit industry for many, many years. Through all these years. I have been an ardent admirer of your work and I have always wished the best for you.

I know you have been upset with us. I humbly apologise for any grievance that has been caused to you during the course of the last few weeks. However, I would want to clarify that we have chosen this new and different title -The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives keeping in mind the non-fiction format of our reality-based franchise series. As our title was distine, I did not foresee it upsetting you as it has and for that I duly apologise.”

Assuring Bhandarkar that the show won't hamper hos project, KaranJohar said,"I want to inform you that we have been promoting our series with the hashtag “Fabulous Lives” on all social media platforms, which is the franchise title we intend to go ahead with. We assure you that the format, nature, audience and the title of our series are different and would not in any manner dent or encumber the exploitation of your work.'

In response, Bhandarkar accepted Karan Johar’s apology .

He , however, mentioned that blatantly disregarding norms makes a little sense in calling someone a ‘fraternity.’

“I didn’t hesitate a moment in the past before granting you the title “GUTKA” in 2013, that you had requested from me, and hence I would have expected the same courtesy in return when I declined you the use of a title I had duly registered, and which I did not intend to part with,”Bhandarkar said.

On the reason behind being his being upset , Bhandarkar said that Karan went ahead with the title despite their conversation and rejection from the trade associations. 

“This is not how I believe relationships work,”he said.

The filmmaker said that he has accepted Karan Johar’s apology and leave the things there. 

Madhur Bhandarkar had earlier accused the Karan Johar production house of misusing and tweaking the title of his upcoming project Bollywood Wives for his web seriesandurged him tochangethetitle.