Published : 07 Sep 2026, 06:40 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:48 AM
Karan Johar has paid tribute to his late father, film producer Yash Johar, on his birth anniversary, sharing memories of their relationship and the advice that has stayed with him.
In an Instagram post accompanied by family photographs, the filmmaker reflected on how losing a parent had changed his perspective on life, Indian broadcaster NDTV reports.
He also recalled a lighter moment after the release of “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, when he celebrated by buying his first designer jacket.
Karan said he proudly returned home in a Burberry jacket, only for his father to look at him and ask what he was wearing.
When told it was Burberry, Yash joked: “Beta yeh Burberry nahi, bahut buri hai” — a play on words meaning it was not Burberry but “very bad”.
Karan also remembered his father as one of his biggest supporters, even encouraging him to consider becoming a mainstream Hindi film actor.
His mother, Hiroo Johar, was more sceptical.
“Son you cannot be in front of the camera and certainly not on a horse,” Karan recalled her telling him.
The filmmaker then turned to a more painful memory from his father’s final days.
He said Yash, who was undergoing cancer treatment, told him after a chemotherapy session that he feared he would have to leave his wife and son behind.
“Just promise me you will always be kind... success means nothing if you're not kind. And take care of mom, like I have,” Karan recalled him saying.
Karan said he promised his father that he would look after his mother.
He described Yash’s death 22 years ago as leaving a void in his life that he had never tried to fill.
“When you lose a parent, you gain a god. He is my god. I pray to him every day,” he wrote.
The tribute drew responses from several members of the Hindi film industry, including Manish Malhotra, Kareena Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Urmila Matondkar and Riddhima Kapoor Sahni.
Filmmaker Farah Khan Kunder also remembered Yash fondly, joking about what he might have made of Karan’s outfits today.
Yash Johar founded Dharma Productions in 1976. He died in Mumbai on Jun 26, 2004, aged 74, while undergoing treatment for cancer.
