Filmmaker Karan Johar recently sold a 50% stake in Dharma Productions to Adar Poonawalla of Serum Institute. The deal came through after rumours surfaced that Saregama and Reliance Industries were looking to acquire a big slice of the production banner. Now, the filmmaker has finally addressed the deal and shared his reasoning for doing so. Johar revealed that he wants to bankroll small-scale movies under the banner completely so the revenue stays in the house. He iterated that even to this date, it is not possible to fund a grand film as a solo producer.
At the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit, Johar and Poonawalla appeared for a chat moderated by fellow producer Siddharth Roy Kapur. During the conversation, Karan delved into his primary motivation behind the deal. He said, “Intellectual property has been a huge part of valuation. The real issue with the funding was that we would always have to partner with an existing studio on the bigger films.”
Elaborating further, he said, “So, even when we made big hits, we were always sharing the profits. In this scenario, it gives us the opportunity of increasing and enhancing our profitability, and owning the film entirely. Yes, there will be those massive Brahmastras that we will make that will need the support of a studio. If I make a film that is over Rs 250 crore or Rs 300 crore, it’s not possible to fund that totally at our stage even now.”
The filmmaker also iterated his interest in pursuing smaller titles. “It’s the middle-budget film, where the cost to profit is super high. Those are the films that you can fund entirely on your own, and you can enjoy and reap the benefits of the big breakthrough profits. I believe the real bread and butter, the real money comes from middle-budget film.”
Explaining further, Karan Johar stated that with big-budget films, the wait for profits is prolonged and even then, the margin is not significant. “But when you make a film in the Rs 65 crore to Rs 80 crore window and you really hit a large number, that is the film I’m chasing. More than the tent pole film, I’m chasing the middle-budget film that gives me the larger return. Everybody thinks bigger the film, bigger the money made, but that’s not true.”
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In 2024, Dharma Productions bankrolled titles including ‘Yodha,’ ‘Mr and Mrs Mahi,’ and ‘Bad Newz.’ His last big-budget title was ‘Brahmastra’ which he co-produced. The film racked up 420 crores against a budget of 400 crores.