For filmmakers to screen their movies to their friends and families first is common throughout the globe. In Bollywood, for the past few years, screenings have become a lot more professional as focus groups are now the norm. In these focus groups, filmmakers receive feedback about their upcoming projects.

Recently, during a roundtable conversation hosted by The Hollywood Reporter India, filmmakers Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar said that they "hate" focus groups, adding that focus groups can be "ruthless." Akhtar added that she is no longer interested in conducting focus groups.

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Later, Johar recalled an incident that transpired with Akhtar during a focus group screening of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Johar said, "Zoya has to tell you a story when she showed Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara to somebody, an astute commercial mind, who said, 'Oh there are too many travel shots,' and she said to him, 'It's a travel film.' During the screening of Gully Boy, the same person said, 'There is too much rapping,' and then she said, 'Because this is a film about rap.' She was, like, 'What am I doing here?'"

Akhtar added, "I don't take every feedback, to be honest. I don't listen to everything. I am just, like, 'Okay, okay.' I have been shouted at once in a focus group. I have stopped going to those screenings now. There was this uncle, he was the producer's father's friend. It was the focus group screening for ZNMD. He went like, 'This is a rubbish movie. What is going on? What are they doing? They are driving?' I was, like, 'Sir, this movie is not for you. Because I cannot do anything to make this movie for you.'"

Akhtar further said, "And it's not for him. It's not his jam. Luckily, for me, there were some kids in their twenties, who were, like, 'We liked it, we connected with it.' So then they started fighting, so I kind of got away."

Johar also spoke about focus groups and said, "I hate research screenings. When you are showing people the film and they walk out. It's, like, when somebody dies, and you line up at the end when you are standing with folded hands. A filmmaker feels exactly the same outside an editing room. You can tell by their body language, if they liked it or hated it, and then you have to ask them what they thought, and you are just worried about what they are going to say."

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Johar concluded by saying, "I never go to focus group screenings. I have done it for many movies, but you hear the videos, and they are so ruthless, and they are, like, 'I will not recommend this movie. I will not watch.' This is your three years of work, and they are just messing it up. I'm, like, 'Why do I have to put myself through this?' And yet you are told, 'You must.'"

Upon hearing Johar's story, Malayalam director Mahesh Narayanan, who was also a part of the interaction, said, "We don't have this research focus groups, and please don't advise this either." This made everyone laugh. However, director Vetrimaaran said that, in Tamil Cinema, they have a core group who review the film's final edit.

See Also: Karan Johar Complains About Actors' Demands, Zoya Akhtar Tells Him 'Just Stop Paying' High Fees To Male Stars