How ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ Became a Meme

A helicopter buzzes above a mansion, inside which people are hosting an elaborate Diwali celebration — replete with a dancing Rani Mukerji in a Lata Mangeshkar-voiced musical number. The camera cuts between the helicopter passenger’s feet landing on gravel and the face of his smiling mother, who somehow knows her son is already here. As Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) runs down the long driveway to the mansion, his mother walks down the long hallway to the door of her home. This was very standard Bollywood drama. But, during COVID, elections, family gatherings — or really, any of life’s many moments — this scene became something else: the perfect meme.

When Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham came out in 2001, expectations were riding high for director Karan Johar’s second film. Johar had created a certifiable hit with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). Now, with K3G, as the film came to be known (what else do you expect from such a long title?), Johar had brought together some of the biggest names in the business: Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol (in their fifth pairing), relative newcomers Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, and Rani Mukerji. The premise of the film was simple: it’s all about family. Little did Johar know that he would end up creating, in addition, a meme machine and a movement.