Filmmaker Karan Johar on Saturday penned a long note after watching The Devil Wears Prada 2, saying that the sequel painted a picture of the current state of journalism and print media while also evoking nostalgia for the original film.
Taking to Instagram, the 53-year-old filmmaker wrote, “Nostalgia is powerful…. It keeps the present hopeful … my memory of watching #devilwearsprada is embedded in my heart… I walked out more in love with Meryl Streep ( if that was possible ) and understanding the pursuits of Miranda Priestly .. even though she was a tough leader , even though she was aesthetically judgemental and raising eye brow elitist to a fault…. But I understood her for her chase to attain excellence and perfection…. I wondered how I would feel revisiting Andy, Nigel, Emily and Miranda.”
“Right at the top let me not compare the two films as the first has a massive heads up of cumulative nostalgia…. This sequel speaks of our times, the ( sadly) emerging irrelevance of serious journalism …the digital overdrive Mania that is eating into the beauty of print… the powerlessness of the artistically powerful forces at the hands of corporations… the need for consolidations over ideations… all that in a Comedy? Yes… that’s the solid strength of Part 2 it makes u think of the travesty of our times,” he further added.
Reflecting on how the central characters turned out to be in the sequel, the director said, “Miranda is more vulnerable… Andy is more hopeful… Nigel is more amiable and Emily is just wonderful! I ate my popcorn and sat back on my red hot seat and went back to my 33 year old self who believed that visions can’t be replaced by vendors!!! That’s all.”
Prior to the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Karan met Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway for an interview and admitted that his “knees were rattling” after his interaction with the stars of the movie.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 follows Streep as Runway magazine’s editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly, as she grapples with the decline of print journalism and attempts to find her footing in a struggling industry.
Priestly finds herself in conflict with Emily Blunt’s character — her former assistant — who is now a powerful executive at a luxury group controlling advertising revenue that Priestly urgently needs.
The film was both a critical and commercial success, grossing USD 326 million worldwide at the box office.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 hit theatres on May 1.
