Sorry folks, newly-married and super busy Ranbir Kapoor will not be on the seventh season of Karan Johar's chat show Koffee With Karan. "Ranbir told me 'I am not coming,'" Karan Johar told NDTV ahead of the broadcast of episode one - which features Ranbir's wife Alia Bhatt. Ranbir Kapoor, who's been on the Koffee couch before, is skipping the show this year as a preventive measure. The reason he gave is this: "He said 'I will say something and I may be in some trouble so I don't want to come,'" KJo told us. Ranbir, erring on the side of caution, has so far only been the subject of controversy on the show after actresses Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor, with whom he has co-starred in films, took pot shots at him on season three of Koffee With Karan. Deepika and Ranbir, who used to date, now share a cordial relationship.
Regardless, Karan Johar gets why celebrities are wary of appearing on his show. "Actors may say the same thing somewhere else but they don't get the kind of backlash when they say it on my show. People are waiting to attack them because they said something on 'Koffee With Karan' I am doomed by the reputation of my show," he told NDTV.
Ranbir Kapoor, who was a guest on three previous seasons of Koffee With Karan, isn't the only star to go MIA this year. Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan will not compete for the famous Koffee hamper on Season 7. "The three Khans are not coming on this season, I don't have the power to pull them. I can get them for a party but not on my show. I can't manage two also out of the three Khans," Karan Johar said. All three Khans have previously appeared on Koffee With Karan, SRK several times.
Meantime, in the absence of Ranbir Kapoor, his wife Alia Bhatt compensates by opening the season with her Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani co-star Ranveer Singh. A trailer for the episode shows Alia invoking the suhaag raat or lack of one when asked to comment on what she discovered about weddings. Alia and Ranbir married on April 14 and recently revealed that they are expecting a baby.
Koffee With Karan premieres on July 7 on Disney+ Hotstar.