Koffee with Karan
Koffee with Karan is an Indian talk show on Star World India hosted by film producer and director Karan Johar. First airing on 19 November 2004, it is the longest-running talk show in Indian television. The show concluded its sixth season on 17 March 2019.
Overview
Koffee with Karan is produced by Fazila Allana and Kamna Nirula Menezes. The producers were involved with the Star Parivaar Awards in 2004 and approached Karan Johar about hosting the event. He declined the offer, stating "I don't mind anchoring a show, but I'd rather it was a chat show." The idea was pitched to the heads of Star India who, impressed with Johar's hosting skills at the first Zee Cine Awards, ordered the show without a pilot.According to the producers, the concept of the show revolves around "spilling the beans while having a hot cuppa." They have stated that Johar is "the brain behind the show" and that he "sits on everything". About hosting a television chat show, Johar says, "I chat all the time, on the phone, at parties. I decided, might as well get paid for all the talking".
The show quickly became popular, becoming the number one show for Star World India in 2005. Only Zee Café's syndication of Friends beat Koffee with Karan in ratings in 2005. This meant that the talk show was the top Indian English language television show that year. Originally targeted at the 15–34 years age group, the show found approval from outside that range of viewers. The popularity prompted Star India to relaunch the show on Star One in 2005 and in later seasons, simulcast on it altogether.
Koffee with Karan is noted for its uniqueness, especially that of Johar's style of hosting. Its success is credited, in particular, to the fact that it is able to "rope in some of biggest names in the Indian entertainment industry". Most of his guests Johar considers his friends and he mentions that due to that relationship, he has to "strike a balance between being over-cautious and over-friendly". In what is called his "trademark chatty manner", Johar is seen "coaxing , cajoling them and grilling them" and it is indeed "their confessions and revelations" that generate the most media attention. Specifically the rapid fire segment of the show has garnered the most notoriety, being dubbed "infamous" for the statements made during the round which are often revealing.
Regular segments
- Rapid Fire: The segment includes a rapid-fire Q and A with Johar asking each guest a similar set of questions. Guests are encouraged to speak their mind and make the answers "rapid and full of fire". While no score is shown to the guests or the public, slow answers and/or passing on answering a question is usually penalised. The winner of the Rapid Fire round is given a gift hamper which includes personalised roasted coffee, a Koffee mug, some edible items like cookies and candies, and some electronic gadgets. Additionally, in season 6, the Answer of the Season award was introduced with the winner, to be announced at the end of the season, receiving an Audi A5 Sportback as an incentive for guests to be wittier in their answers. While the segment is the most anticipated by the fans, it has gained infamy among guests and in the media because it "often brings out the irreverent side of the ".
- Opinions: Often the show featured this segment which allowed the guests to the hear the opinions of others. Opinions could come from the public and/or other Bollywood personalities. Unlike the Rapid Fire, Opinions did not have a regular time slot in a given episode and could be featured at any point during it. The regular segment became recurring by the run of season 4. A similar segment, titled Friends Like These, was introduced in season 6 which features people close to each guest describing the guest and/or sharing an anecdote about them.
- Koffee Quiz: Introduced in season 4, in this segment, Johar asks a mix of Bollywood-based and general knowledge questions to his guests, who go head to head against each other. Each right answer is awarded a point and, at the end of the round, the winner gets a uniquely-wrapped gift. In season 4, buzzers decided which guest gets to answer a question but was replaced in season 5 with noises made by each guest. The game was revamped for season 6 with the introduction of a "gaming zone" - a separate section on the show's set positioned behind the couch area; buzzers were brought back which are mounted on two podiums facing each other. The Koffee Quiz is regularly featured following the Rapid Fire round, at the end of the show, except for episodes featuring only a single guest.
Seasons
Season 2 began airing on 11 February 2007. Broadcast of the show was changed to the 9 PM Sunday slot and it was simulcasted on Star One alongside Star World. For the 15th episode of the season, Hollywood actor Richard Gere appeared as the sole guest. The season wrapped up on 16 September 2007 with introduction of the [|Koffee Awards].
By May 2010, it was confirmed that season 3 was set to air that year. Initially reported to air in July or August, season 3 premiered on 7 November 2010 with guests Aishwarya Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. Indian tennis player, Mahesh Bhupathi, appeared alongside his, then-fiancé and now, wife Lara Dutta. He is the first ever sports personality to be featured on the show. The Koffee Awards was brought back for the season 3 finale which aired on 17 April 2011.
8 September 2013, Karan Johar told IANS, "Koffee With Karan will be on air in December. I will start shooting for it in December". Later that month, Salman Khan was confirmed to make his debut in the season premiere which aired on 1 December 2013. The premiere also saw the appearance of Khan's father, veteran screenwriter Salim Khan, who joined him halfway through in the episode. Along with Khan, many other established Bollywood celebrities appeared for the first time this season. They include Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Akshay Kumar, Emraan Hashmi, Mahesh Bhatt, Anurag Kashyap, Juhi Chawla, and Rohit Shetty. While the show has retained its 9 PM Sunday slot since the second season, the 14th episode of season 4, featuring India-born Hollywood actress Freida Pinto and Nargis Fakhri, was moved to the 11 PM slot reportedly due to the channel's view that the content "was too bold for prime time viewing". Several celebrities who were regulars in the past, including Rani Mukerji, Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt aka Baba, Ekta Kapoor, John Abraham, and Lara Dutta, did not appear in season 4 with the most notable absence being that of Shah Rukh Khan. Both Khan and Saif Ali Khan have since appeared on the show in the following season.
While replying to his followers' tweets on 6 March 2016, Johar revealed that season 5 will be back later that year. On 6 October, Johar confirmed the first episode will air on 6 November 2016 at its usual time slot. Going back to tradition, the season premiered with Shah Rukh Khan as the featured guest who was joined by Alia Bhatt, both having recently worked on Dear Zindagi of which Johar was a producer. Twinkle Khanna made her first appearance on the show in season 5, appearing alongside her husband Akshay Kumar. Veteran actor Jackie Shroff also made his debut this season; he came on in the 13th episode along with his son, actor Tiger Shroff. Indian tennis player Sania Mirza appeared in the 14th episode, becoming the second sports personality to be on the show. The Koffee Awards, which were not given out in season 4, was brought back and aired as the penultimate episode of the season with the finale, a best of episode, being aired on 19 March 2017.
On 24 April 2018, Johar confirmed season 6 to be out in 2018 breaking the usual trend of a season every three years. On 18 August, Johar tweeted that the season premiere will air on 21 October 2018. On 21 October, the sixth season premiered with Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt as guests. In the third episode, Johar competed against guest Aamir Khan in the rapid fire round, while Malaika Arora appeared as a guest judge. The 10th episode, featuring Prabhas, S. S. Rajamouli and Rana Daggubati from Baahubali, marked the first time stars from Tollywood, the Telugu film industry, appeared on the show. K. L. Rahul and Hardik Pandya, who appeared on 12th episode, were the first two cricket players to have appeared on the show. On 11 January 2019, the streaming platform of Star India, Hotstar, removed the episode from their site due to comments made by Pandya during the episode, which were considered "crass, racist, sexist and cringe-worthy" by fans; additionally, Star World India removed all promotional content for the episode from their social media pages.
Koffee Awards
For the finale of season 2, Karan Johar introduced the Koffee Awards. The "best performers of the season" are felicitated by the awards show, which also "encapsulates the best snippets and quotes from all guests". The awards have since also been given out in seasons 3 and 5. The Koffee award comes in the form of a golden cup and saucer and the winners are chosen by a jury of personalities from the Hindi film industry.Koffee Awards 2007
In the inaugural Koffee Awards, the jury featured fashion designer Rohit Bal, actress Malaika Arora, and comedian Cyrus Broacha.- Best Episode: the Kapoor Brothers - Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, and Rajiv Kapoor
- Most Glamorous : Hrithik Roshan
- Most Glamorous : Priyanka Chopra
- Best Supporting Appearance: Karisma Kapoor
- Best Debut : Himesh Reshammiya
- Best Debut : Mira Nair
- Best Rapid Fire : Shah Rukh Khan
- Best Rapid Fire : Kareena Kapoor
- Best Moment of The Season: Rakhi Sawant
- Best Line of The Season: Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan
- Karan's Favorite Guest: Rakhi Sawant
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Shah Rukh Khan
Koffee Awards 2011
- Best Dressed : Hrithik Roshan
- Best Dressed : Kareena Kapoor Khan
- Best Debut : Ranbir Kapoor
- Best Debut : Sonam Kapoor
- Best Performance : Shah Rukh Khan
- Best Performance : Deepika Padukone
- Best Rapid Fire : Saif Ali Khan
- Best Rapid Fire : Kareena Kapoor Khan
- Best Episode : Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor
- Best Episode : Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Shahid Kapoor
Koffee Awards 2017
- Best Dressed : Ranbir Kapoor
- Best Dressed : Priyanka Chopra
- Best Debut : Jackie Shroff
- Best Debut : Twinkle Khanna
- Best Actor in a Comic Role: Varun Dhawan
- Special Koffee Award: Arjun Kapoor
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Kareena Kapoor Khan
- Best Line/Quote on the Show: Sohail Khan
- Best Performance : Katrina Kaif
- Best Performance : Salman Khan
- Best Episode: the Khan Brothers - Salman Khan, Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan
Koffee Awards 2019
- Best Debut : Diljit Dosanjh
- Best Debut : Sara Ali Khan
- Best Dressed : Vicky Kaushal
- Best Dressed : Kareena Kapoor Khan
- Best Moment: Ranveer Singh
- Answer of the Season: Ajay Devgn
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Priyanka Chopra Jonas
- Best Performance : Kajol
- Best Performance : Ranveer Singh
- Best Episode: Badshah and Diljit Dosanjh
Awards and nominations