Karan Johar wants Dharma Productions to enjoy its spot in the sun
Five years ago, he didn’t believe it was his Dharma; cinema was his religion, his passion... But Dharma? Karan Johar was clueless when we approached him to edit Business of Bollywood. What made the country’s top business paper select him? Kuch kuch hota hai, he must have thought. With seven debutant directors bringing out a string of hits under his banner, Karan Johar has chosen to live in the shadows so Dharma Productions can enjoy its spot in the sun.
Not much has changed in Dharma Productions office in the six years since Yash Johar died. Yes, the traffic in the lane leading to the office has definitely increased manifold. And the cabin and chair occupied by Yash Johar has a new occupant — Apoorva Mehta, Karan Johar’s school friend and Dharma Productions CEO. What has noticeably changed is the wall lit with posters of the films produced under the Dharma banner. From the once-in-two-years films that Karan Johar directed, Dharma’s slate reads two to three films in a year — with foreign studios, Indian corporate film houses, “official” Hollywood remakes — so you have a wall which is pretty much filled up. “Dharma Productions is what Yash Raj Films was four to five years ago. It is a commendable achievement,” says Anil Thadani of distribution house AA Films.
Today, the distributor fraternity is willing to pay the price Karan asks for his films; in a situation where distributors are cutting down on what they buy, he stands out, he adds. “What works is that Dharma’s success ratio which is very high and Karan’s keen sense of commerce. He can calculate how much each film can make and knows that a KANK will not be a K3G at the box office. That is Karan’s forte. He has a good balance of creativity and commerce,” says Thadani.
The YRF comparison is something Karan junior frowns at and dismisses, but when the audience at the Berlin Film Festival welcomes the Dharma Productions logo and its music with a resounding applause, he does feel a huge sense of achievement. A silent dream he had harboured alone, of seeing Brand Dharma resonate across domestic and overseas markets, has been achieved to a large extent. He knows he has done his father proud. Very like his films. Friend, actor, co-producer, family Shah Rukh Khan says he wished, “Yash Uncle were alive,” for he would certainly have been proud of how his son had grown the production house he had begun.
Among Johar’s last wishes was that Karan nurture Dharma into a family that lived by the ethics and values which would put people ahead of commerce. “Do not ever tarnish the goodwill of Dharma,” was his advice and it is a mantra his son swears he has lived by. All his seven debutante directors, friends like SRK or Mehta, as well as distributors like Thadani and Siddharth Roy Kapur of UTV vouch for the fact that Karan is a people’s person.
It is his trust in human beings that takes priority, everything else follows. “I never go wrong with people; it happened just once. Delegation and trust are the two things which are critical to building any organisation and I have followed both, after which everything comes easy,” adds Karan, who does not think trust is difficult to place.
Not much has changed in Dharma Productions office in the six years since Yash Johar died. Yes, the traffic in the lane leading to the office has definitely increased manifold. And the cabin and chair occupied by Yash Johar has a new occupant — Apoorva Mehta, Karan Johar’s school friend and Dharma Productions CEO. What has noticeably changed is the wall lit with posters of the films produced under the Dharma banner. From the once-in-two-years films that Karan Johar directed, Dharma’s slate reads two to three films in a year — with foreign studios, Indian corporate film houses, “official” Hollywood remakes — so you have a wall which is pretty much filled up. “Dharma Productions is what Yash Raj Films was four to five years ago. It is a commendable achievement,” says Anil Thadani of distribution house AA Films.
Today, the distributor fraternity is willing to pay the price Karan asks for his films; in a situation where distributors are cutting down on what they buy, he stands out, he adds. “What works is that Dharma’s success ratio which is very high and Karan’s keen sense of commerce. He can calculate how much each film can make and knows that a KANK will not be a K3G at the box office. That is Karan’s forte. He has a good balance of creativity and commerce,” says Thadani.
The YRF comparison is something Karan junior frowns at and dismisses, but when the audience at the Berlin Film Festival welcomes the Dharma Productions logo and its music with a resounding applause, he does feel a huge sense of achievement. A silent dream he had harboured alone, of seeing Brand Dharma resonate across domestic and overseas markets, has been achieved to a large extent. He knows he has done his father proud. Very like his films. Friend, actor, co-producer, family Shah Rukh Khan says he wished, “Yash Uncle were alive,” for he would certainly have been proud of how his son had grown the production house he had begun.
Among Johar’s last wishes was that Karan nurture Dharma into a family that lived by the ethics and values which would put people ahead of commerce. “Do not ever tarnish the goodwill of Dharma,” was his advice and it is a mantra his son swears he has lived by. All his seven debutante directors, friends like SRK or Mehta, as well as distributors like Thadani and Siddharth Roy Kapur of UTV vouch for the fact that Karan is a people’s person.
It is his trust in human beings that takes priority, everything else follows. “I never go wrong with people; it happened just once. Delegation and trust are the two things which are critical to building any organisation and I have followed both, after which everything comes easy,” adds Karan, who does not think trust is difficult to place.
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