MUMBAI: Filmmaker Karan Johar’s film “Student of The Year” releases alongside his protege Nikhil Advani’s animation film “Delhi Safari” Oct 19 and he blames the Khans for this clash at the box office.

“This year is pretty tough, there are not enough release dates available because it is such a jam-packed year. But what to do, all the Khans have booked Diwali, Christmas and Eid. So, we are releasing on the dates left for us.

“But I wish Nikhil all the best, I believe his animation film is lovely,” the 40-year-old said here Wednesday at a radio station where he celebrated Teacher’s Day with the cast of “SOTY”.

Meanwhile, after acknowledging Adtiya Chopra as his mentor, Karan names superstar Shah Rukh Khan as his teacher when it comes to life’s lessons.

“One of the most intelligent minds in the business is Shah Rukh Khan and I think one of the most emotionally intelligent men is Shah Rukh Khan and I have learned little life lessons from him,” Karan said.

“I have learned a lot from Shah Rukh. In fact, spiritually, emotionally, the kind of person he is. So I have imbibed a lot of his qualities and I am doing it till now. I am going to learn a lot more from him,” he added.

Karan’s first directorial venture “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” starred Shah Rukh Khan and later he repeated SRK in all his directorial ventures – “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”, “Kal Ho Na Ho”, “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna” and “My Name Is Khan”.

For “Student of The Year”, Karan roped in newcomers – Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra, but he has co-produced it with Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment.