The snooty, classist godfather of the dominant Bollywood lobby has fallen!!!! “I don’t care if they don’t watch my film. I am not putting a gun to anyone’s head to watch my films”, Karan Johar once said in an interview. The words seem to have come up difficult for the Big Bollywood man.
Serene Productions, led by Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India has announced a binding agreement to invest ₹1,000 crore in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment.
With this investment, Serene Productions will acquire a 50% stake in Dharma, while Karan Johar will retain the remaining half. According to media reports, major conglomerates, including Sanjiv Goenka’s Saregama and Reliance Industries’ Jio Cinema, have been in talks with Dharma Productions, which has been seeking investment for some time.
Now it is official that Karan Johar has decided to sell 50 percent of Dharma Production’s stakes to Adar Poonawala.
Dharma Production
Dharma Production Pvt Ltd, an Indian film production and distribution company was established by Yash Johar, the father of Karan Johar in 1979. Since its formation, Dharma Production has become the leading film production company and ruled Bollywood since then. After the demise of Yash Johar, his son Karan Johar took over the company. With Dharma Production in his hand, Karan Johar made sure that Bollywood remains confined in the hands of only a few established families of Bollywood.
He reinforced Bollywood’s exclusive, closed-door environment, often leaving talented outsiders struggling for visibility. Through his films, he made sure that the star kids of Bollywood get a decent launch curtailing the opportunities to outsiders even though they might be more talented than the likes of many star kids. Alia Bhatt (daughter of Mahesh Bhatt), Varun Dhawan (Son of David Dhavan), Janhvi Kapoor (daughter of Sridevi), Ananya Pandey (daughter of Chunky Pandey), Ishaan Khattar (son of Rajesh Khattar), Shanaya Kapoor (daughter of Sanjay Kapoor), Khushi Kapoor (daughter of Sridevi), Suhana Khan (daughter of Shah Rukh Khan) all were launched by Karan Johar. Yess, there were far more talented actors available in India who come from the humblest of origins but the snooty godfather chose to cast these star kids as leads in his movies. Dharma Production through repeated casting of star kids created the Bollywood industry’s landscape that privileges lineage over skill.
The downfall of Karan Johar
Arrogance walks tall, but it trips eventually and the same happened with Karan Johar. The landslide of Karan Johar started in 2022. From 2022 till 2024, Karan Johar’s Dharma Production produced a total number of 10 movies out of which only one movie ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt proved to be successful minting close to Rs 355 crores worldwide while it was made on a budget of Rs 160 crores.
If Rani aur Rocky ki Prem Kahani is excluded from the list, no other movie of Dharma could bring a smile to the face of the classist mafia.
The other nine movies produced include four averages, one below average, two flops, and two disasters. Talking about the list, the first hit that proved to be a hit was Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.
Here is the list of average, below average, flops and disaster movies that were produced by Dharma Production-
Average Performers
Jugjugg Jeeyo, released in June 2022, and starring Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani, had a budget of ₹120 crores but only managed to earn a total of ₹136 crores, categorizing the film as average.
Next came, Brahmastra Part 1, which premiered on September 9, 2022. This high-budget film featured big names like Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, and Nagarjuna. Despite the anticipation surrounding it, the film fell short of expectations, raking in only ₹418 crores against a hefty budget of ₹400 crores.
In July 2024, a movie by the name ‘Kill’ hit the screens but fared poorly, earning only ₹47.12 crores from a budget of ₹40 crores. Similarly, Bad Newz, released in 2024 with a budget of ₹80 crores, only grossed ₹115 crores, leading to a series of disappointments for Dharma Productions.
Below Average
Mr. and Mrs. Mahi, starring Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor, also failed to bring any joy to Karan Johar and Dharma Productions. Produced with a budget of Rs 40 crore, its worldwide collection touched only Rs 36.28 crore.
Flops
Sidharth Malhotra’s Yoddha, released in March 2024, proved to be another disappointment for the production company. With a budget of ₹52 crores, the film failed to recoup its costs, resulting in significant losses for Dharma Productions.
Following the same trend, the recently released Jigra, featuring Alia Bhatt and Vedang Raina, managed to earn only ₹52 crores against a budget of ₹90 crores, incurring a loss of ₹38 crores.
Disasters
Liger, starring South Indian actor Vijay Deverakonda and star kid Ananya Panday, turned out to be a major disaster for Dharma Productions, as did Selfie, featuring Emraan Hashmi. Liger was made on a budget of ₹90 crores but only earned ₹60.80 crores, while Selfie, produced with a budget of ₹100 crores, grossed a mere ₹23.63 crores.
Conclusion
A few days ago, we celebrated Dussehra, symbolizing the victory of humility and virtue over arrogance and ego. Now, we see a parallel unfolding in the Hindi film industry, with Karan Johar’s stronghold appearing to waver and the dominant Bollywood lobby which has often faced accusations of working as a “movie mafia”, is now showing signs of decline. This moment feels symbolic, as if the tides are turning against the long-standing elitism that has often characterized Bollywood. With this shift, we hold hope that a new era may be dawning for Hindi cinema—one that embraces diverse talents and stories, offering a fairer landscape for outsiders and newcomers.