India, May 29 -- Filmmaker Karan Johar recently sent social media into overdrive after fans noticed that he had unfollowed several close friends and industry colleagues on Instagram, including Shah Rukh Khan, Ananya Panday, Kartik Aaryan, and longtime friend-designer Manish Malhotra. Amid the mounting chatter, Karan has now reacted to the frenzy and clarified the reason behind his unexpected social media clean-up.

On Thursday, eagle-eyed social media users were quick to notice Karan's sudden unfollowing spree on Instagram, sparking a wave of curiosity and speculation online.

Fans soon noticed that the filmmaker had unfollowed several celebrities. Interestingly, Priyanka Chopra continues to remain on his following list.

But friends like...