Managing India Awards 2024: Karan Johar Wins Director Of The Year For Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Karan Johar was in the national capital to attend the All India Management Association (AIMA)'s ninth National Leadership Conclave

Filmmaker Karan Johar on Tuesday said producer Aditya Chopra and superstar Shah Rukh Khan are the "two pillars" in his life to whom he owes his 25-year career in cinema.

Johar assisted and featured in a brief role in Chopra's hit directorial debut Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the 1995 musical romance film starring Khan and Kajol. Three years later, both the actors fronted Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which marked Johar's beginning as a director.

"It was also part of my destiny to have met Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan. Two pillars, two reasons why I sit here today. They acknowledged something about me that I didn't see in myself. I will always be grateful to them for that. The rest was a lot of just passion... I may have been as sincere as I was. But what happens when you don't have people who are in powerful positions like that? "You can make it entirely on your own still because your belief system can be strong enough to combat all odds. But I was fortunate that my struggles came later. My first step was because two people who are not related to me by blood or family believed in me strongly. It has a lot to do with destiny, but nothing happens without hard work," the filmmaker said.