Karan Johar has partnered with Audible India for Live Your Best Life, a podcast series hosted by the filmmaker-producer in which he puts his celebrity guests in front of a mic — with or without ‘koffee’ or a couch — and digs deep into finding out what makes them try and live their best lives. The podcast includes names ranging from Konkona Sensharma to Masaba Gupta, Ira Khan to Durjoy Datta. t2 caught up with Johar to know more.

What made you want to do Live Your Best Life? Was there a specific reason or several triggers?

I have always been drawn to storytelling, but this time, I wanted to strip it down to its most honest, raw and real form. Audio felt like the perfect space for that — just voices, emotions and real conversations. It offered me a blank slate, a fresh way to connect and express. I have always believed in the power of dialogue, and this podcast gave me the chance to explore that.

What drew me in was the chance to explore wisdom that comes not from textbooks, but from lived lives. There is no universal blueprint to living your best life. We are all just writing our own rulebooks as we go. This podcast, for me, is about giving space to those personal philosophies, and hopefully, inspiring people to embrace theirs too.

You have been a prolific host across mediums. What did being on Live Your Best Life help you learn about being a listener and a host over and above the skills you already have?

If I have learnt one thing through this podcast, it is that listening is an art. In the audio space, you need to truly tune in. And in doing that, I have become a better listener. There is something so intimate about this format... it invites vulnerability. These conversations have taught me to hold space, to listen with empathy and to let silences speak when they need to. It has been grounding, humbling and enriching — and I feel like I have grown as a storyteller because of it.

What has been the thought behind each episode of the podcast and what made you opt for certain names as guests over others?

Every episode is a chapter in the larger book of what it means to live well, however you define it. The people I invited are experts, dreamers, fighters, creators... they have each carved their path with courage and grace. We had guests from all walks of life, ranging from Zakir Khan, Prajakta Koli, Masaba Gupta, Bhuvan Bam and so many more.

In our line of work, you meet a lot of people — but seldom do you sit and converse with them to understand their mind and heart. I believe this show made me slow down, listen and introspect so much about life and what makes other’s lives too. Strength, resilience, grace, warmth — all qualities that I learnt to imbibe so much more... with just conversations.

How does doing this on a platform like Audible enhance the experience?

Audible felt like the perfect partner for something this intimate. Their entire ecosystem is built around deep, immersive listening, and that is exactly what I wanted to create. Audible gave me the freedom to create what I wanted to share with the audience. The service captures the audience that really wants to engage. People come to Audible expecting a certain depth, and that aligned beautifully with the kind of conversations I wanted to have.

What is it about the nature of podcasts that makes for easy, candid and unfiltered conversations?

Podcasts are beautifully unvarnished. The medium also meets people where they are. You are not asking for their undivided attention in a theatre or in front of a screen — you are walking with them, driving with them, sitting with them at night while they unwind. There is an intimacy there that is hard to replicate elsewhere. It feels like a private conversation, even when thousands are tuning in. And perhaps, most importantly, there is time. Time to meander. Time to pause. Time to feel. That kind of freedom fosters honesty. It is magnetic. So, yes, podcasts are popular because they are raw and personal.

What is that one topic that you think needs a lot of conversation in the world at large today?

Self-compassion. We live in a world that is constantly telling us to be more — do more, earn more, prove more. But what about being kind to yourself? We are so quick to celebrate success but so slow to forgive ourselves for failures. I think living your best life isn’t about achieving more, it is about feeling whole, even when things aren’t perfect.

We need to talk more about self-acceptance, self-care and not being apologetic about who we are. We take ourselves too seriously. Let’s cut ourselves some slack. I think we need to normalise failure, therapy, bad days, good cries, and the fact that sometimes you just want to lie on your bed and watch 2000s rom-coms with chips. And that’s okay!