The latest Koffee With Karan Season 9 episode turned a 2023 release-date disagreement into one of the season’s most candid conversations. Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor returned to the couch with Karan Johar and revisited the weeks after Bawaal was first scheduled near Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
What usually stays in industry gossip became an on-record conversation about ghosting, weight gain, and the difference between being upset and being angry.
What started the cold war
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Bawaal stars Varun and Janhvi and was originally slated for an Amazon Prime Video premiere on July 27, 2023. Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was set for theatres the very next day, July 28.
Varun says he had told Karan the date might move, but Karan said nothing had been formally announced and he felt cornered. He stopped taking calls and replying to messages, which Varun described as being ghosted.
Six kilos, a breakup and a K3G joke
Janhvi put a number on the personal cost. She said she gained six kilos while they were not talking and began losing the weight once the fight was resolved. Karan said his rift with Janhvi felt like a breakup, while Varun called his own disagreement a one-sided fight.
Varun also explained that calling Karan a “child” came from a parental dynamic; he says he speaks to his father and mother the same way. He still stood by the word, even while joking that Karan’s reaction turned him into Amitabh Bachchan’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham patriarch.
How the patch-up happened
Varun said he changed Bawaal‘s release date, worked his way back into Karan’s birthday invitation, and then persuaded Janhvi to show up. Karan recalled the moment: “Then I cried, and she cried and we became okay.”
- The tension began with a two-day date overlap in July 2023.
- Janhvi says she gained six kilos during the silence and later lost them.
- Varun shifted the release date and helped the three reconcile at Karan’s birthday.
For Bollywood fans, the episode reframes a scheduling decision that could have been buried. It shows how a release calendar can test friendships, and how a birthday and a change of dates helped put one back together.
The conversation is worth catching for the way the three laugh now, but also for the clear boundaries they draw: Karan says he can be hurt, but Varun insists he cannot stay angry with him for long.
Source: Bollywood Hungama
