After taking a dig at Kangana Ranaut by sarcastically declaring that “Nepotism rocks”, filmmaker Karan Johar has expressed regret over his comment and stated that he will no longer take Ranaut’s name or speak about nepotism, according to an NDTV interview. “What we said was meant to be a joke, I think it was misplaced, misunderstood and I think we went wrong,” Johar told the television channel.

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Karan Johar speaks to NDTV.

At the IIFA awards on Monday, Johar, Varun Dhawan and Saif Ali Khan joked about Ranaut’s views on nepotism in the Hindi film industry. Ranaut had previously called the director a “flagbearer of nepotism” on his talk show Koffee with Karan in February.

“This is something I need to say to clarify, of course I don’t believe that nepotism rocks,” Johar said in the interview. “I believe that only talent rocks. If anything that rocks, it’s your talent, hard work and conviction. It’s the energy you bring to your job.”

Varun Dhawan too tweeted out an apology on Tuesday.