Dharma Productions has found its savior. Amidst continuous losses and a string of back-to-back flops, Adar Poonawalla’s Serene Productions has acquired a 50% stake, providing a lifeline of ₹1,000 crores to Dharma Productions. Adar’s company has invested in both wings of Dharma: Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment. The press release states that Karan Johar will remain Executive Chairman, and Apurva Mehta will be Chief Executive Officer, carrying forward Dharma’s film legacy.

This ₹1,000 crore lifeline (not ₹100 crore) is one of Dharma Productions’ major needs because the truth behind the trade’s claims of big hits over the past few years will come to light with this data. In 2022, revenue was ₹276 crores, while in 2023, Dharma Productions’ balance sheet showed nearly four times more revenue, totaling ₹1,040 crores. However, profit fell by 59%, meaning that out of ₹1,040 crores in revenue, profit was ₹11 crores, and expenses were ₹1,028 crores.

In 2023, Dharma Productions earned ₹656 crores from distribution rights,  ₹140 crores from digital rights, ₹83 crores from satellite rights, ₹75 crores from music rights. In 2022, they earned ₹19 crores from distribution, ₹167 crores from digital rights, ₹34 crores from satellite rights, ₹21 crores from music rights.

Dharma Productions was founded in 1976 by Karan Johar’s father, Yash Johar, with the film ‘Dostana’ starring Amitabh Bachchan. After Yash Johar, Karan took over Dharma’s reins. Karan, who began his film career with ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,’ has produced over 50 films.

However, before the pandemic, Dharma Productions started stumbling. The shock of ‘Kalank’ in 2019 was the first major blow, followed by ‘Student of the Year 2,’ an even bigger setback for Karan, who announced ‘Takht’ but later stepped back from this ambitious project.

During the pandemic, Dharma released already-shot films on OTT, including ‘Gunjan Saxena,’ ‘Shershaah,’ and ‘Gehraiyaan.’ Karan saw OTT as a viable option and started Dharmatic, planning web series and low-budget films for OTT.

Meanwhile, for theaters, the expensive ‘Brahmastra’ was made but received an underwhelming post-pandemic response. The film, budgeted at ₹350 crores, struggled to reach ₹400 crores worldwide. ‘Govinda Naam Mera’ and ‘Selfie’ fell victim to the post-pandemic effect.

Karan Johar made a comeback in direction with ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,’ starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh, claimed to have earned ₹350 crores worldwide on a budget of ₹160 crores. However, trade people denied this claim, stating box office figures were exaggerated.

Subsequent films like ‘Kill,’ ‘Warrior,’ ‘Mr. and Mrs. Mahi,’ ‘Bad News,’ and ‘Jigra’ crashed at the box office. Karan Johar announced no pre-release screenings for critics, sparking industry discussions.

Sara Ali Khan’s OTT film ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ flopped, and the web series ‘Show-Rime’ received an underwhelming response. Madhuri Dixit’s ‘The Fame Game’ also flopped, and despite ‘Call Me Bae’s poor reception, its second season was announced due to prior commitment. On ZEE5, Dharmaatic produced Gyaarah Gyaarah was the solo web series that received praises.

This has been the situation at the box office and OTT so far. Karan Johar, along with Salman Khan planned a film called ‘Bull’ with director Vishnuvardhan, but due to budget issues, the film has not been able to take off for the past two years. And now it has been removed from Dharma’s upcoming film slate.

Dharma has scheduled Akshay Kumar’s film based on C Shankaran Nair for March 14 and they are also requesting Akshay to postpone the release of Jolly LLB 3 to avoid confusion regarding the promotion of Akshay’s films. The film featuring Sunny Sandar’s Tulsi Kumari, which is planned with Varun Dhawan and Janhvi kapoor, is also on the floor.

The announcement for Dhadak 2 with Siddhant Chaturvedi and Tripti Dimri has been made, but it will take time for the film to go on the floor. There is another film with Kartik Aaryan in the upcoming slate of Dharma, directed by Sandeep Modi, but there is currently no update on it. To keep these projects moving, Dharma was looking for significant investment, which has come not from within the industry, but from vaccine king Adar’s Serene Productions. It is hoped that Adar’s 1,000 crore vaccine will improve Dharma’s condition.