The letter K has been dropped from his movies, happy family dramas no longer satisfy the creative in him and his next My Name Is Khan is not being shot in his favourite city New York. Also, Johar admits to doing external research for his forthcoming film that he starts shooting this December. “This is a first ever external research in my film. Usually it’s all been very internal-my observations and opinions on relationships. My Name is Khan, will take Dharma Productions to its next phase,” says Johar who took over the company reins after his father Yash Johar’s demise in 2004. And in keeping with expectations, he has steered it forward rather well. Quite like his father, he has tremendous goodwill in the industry — top-drawer actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan count among his friends.

But increasingly, he appears to be breaking away from familiar territory. Johar, in the choice of films that he is producing, the directors he’s working with - Rensil D’Silva and Anurag Kashyap to name two – displays intriguing contradictions. The first sign was when the resounding success of Kal Ho Naa Ho was followed up with Kaal, a spook story directed by Soham Shah, his one-time assistant.

But there is plenty that has remained much the same.

My Name Is Khan expectedly stars his favourite Khan – Shah Rukh – opposite his favourite heroine Kajol with Sharmishtha Roy as art director and Farah Khan doing the choreography, says Johar, who is dressed casually in denims.

Meanwhile, there is Dostana that’s coming up this week helmed by Tarun Mansukhani, who Johar says has been a friend for the last 10 years. “I almost feel like a parent with Tarun who came to me during Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and has been with me ever since through the highs and lows in the interim years.

“The entire Dostana team was a very happy one and that energy shows in the film though for us at Dharma Productions, it was also very emotional,” he says.

Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik, Amitabh, Jaya and Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji - Johar is often accused of playing safe when it comes to the choice of actors in his movies. But as he is quick to point out, Dharma Productions has launched new directors instead-Soham Shah, Nikhil Advani, Rensil D’Silva, Tarun Mansukhani and Ayan Mukerji (who directs Wake Up Sid) - “It’s a far greater risk because the director is handling many more departments whereas an actor has to only work on one department.” Point ceded.

Then there are television and fashion too – his chat show Koffee With Karan was quite a success and he’s hosted a few shows on style and fashion. More recently, he even walked the ramp for Rohit Bal – clearly, fashion is something he knows and enjoys. Warming up quickly to the subject he says,”

I am associated with fashion… I follow it as a hobby. It is a huge business though a large section thinks it frivolous. Fashion is as much an art form as movies are.” His favourite designers include Manish Malhotra, Varun Bahl, Rohit Bal, Anamika Khanna and Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Johar also counts among the few filmmakers who has brand endorsements in his kitty-there’s Tata Indicom, a foreign watch brand to name a few. Television shows, he says, are more of a hobby and for the time being it’s just movies for him. “During my growing up years, I wanted to be a film critic and host my own television show and I have done both. I can’t complain.”

My Name Is Khan, according to Johar, will put Dharma Productions in a different league. And there’s more coming from the banner that seems to be fast moving away from its romantic happy films space. There’s Koochie Koochie Hota Hai, an animation version of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Wake Up Sid with Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor and Rensil D’Silva’s film with Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Koochie Koochie, he claims, will technically be the best movie in India. “Every film will have a different energy,” says Johar.

He has not thought of stepping into an actor’s shoes though he is open to doing cameo roles that are interesting. He has got himself one in Zoya Akhtar’s forthcoming film. “I am not delusional to imagine myself play the lead in a film. During Zoya’s film I kept asking whether I had got my expressions right,” he recalls laughing.

The changes in Dharma Productions are perhaps a reflection of the transformation Johar himself has undergone during the decade in the film industry. There is a business savvy to him and his films, a professional approach to all matters relating to work. His friends are still as close but he’s gone on to make new ones and he looks to be opening up to external influences and style not necessarily his own.

“Adi (Aditya Chopra), Sooraj R. Barjatya and I were among those who in a way pioneered the new wave of Hindi cinema. Ashutosh Gowariker and Farhan Akhtar mark the second phase of that change. When I saw Dil Chahta Hai and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, I knew I had to change the way I make movies. The only way to be brilliant is to acknowledge brilliance.”

As for the changing face of the film industry, “The advent of corporate houses has resulted in the film fraternity becoming an industry. Trust has been the biggest casualty. If you are signing contracts that run into pages there is no room for friendship,” he states. At Dharma Productions, however, it is still the one-page contract (his father’s legacy) that continues.