Karan Johar to Revive Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna as Web Series

Mumbai: Nearly two decades after his most controversial film divided Indian audiences, filmmaker Karan Johar is bringing Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna back — this time as a long-form streaming series.

The 2006 film, which featured Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Amitabh Bachchan in an unflinching exploration of marital infidelity, had sparked outrage when it released, with audiences and critics questioning whether the director was endorsing adultery. Karan Johar has pushed back on that reading consistently, and the planned series suggests he believes the story deserves a fuller, more nuanced treatment.

Speaking to The Week, he recalled an incident from a preview screening, where a couple watching Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji's characters grow close refused to accept what was unfolding on screen — with the husband insisting it was "a dream sequence" — before they walked out when it became clear it was not. For Karan Johar, the anecdote captures something deeper about Indian society: that audiences are willing to live with uncomfortable realities privately but are unwilling to confront them in a darkened cinema hall.

The series is being developed for an undisclosed streaming platform. Details on the cast and release timeline are yet to be announced.

He also confirmed that his flagship celebrity chat show Koffee With Karan will return for its ninth season this Diwali.