A Punjabi can go out of Punjab but Punjab can never get out of a Punjabi! Akshay Kumar who is also a Punjabi startS speaking in Punjabi during negotiations when he didn’t want others to understand his conversation. This interesting revelation was made by filmmaker Karan Johar at a recent event.
Karan Johar recalled how, in his younger days, most directors and producers in Bollywood were Punjabi. He mentioned that his father, Yash Johar, also spoke to his crew in Punjabi.
“All the producers and directors came from Punjab. Whether it was Manmohan Desai’s set or Yash Chopra’s set or J Om Prakash’s set, everyone used to speak in Punjabi. The hero was Punjabi. The heroine was a South Indian. It was almost like a template,” he said.
Reflecting on his childhood, Karan shared an amusing anecdote about how his father spoke to distributors in Punjabi every morning. “My father used to speak to the distributors in Punjabi in the morning. I knew Punjabi very well, but my problem would be when my mother woke up and started speaking in Sindhi. That’s where I got confused. I completely understand Punjabi,” he added.
While discussing the Punjabi influence in Bollywood, Karan brought up Akshay Kumar’s habit of switching to Punjabi during business negotiations. He revealed, “Even today, when Apoorva Mehta is the main negotiator and Akshay Kumar doesn’t want Apoorva to know what he wants to say, he talks to me in Punjabi (laughs).”
