Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Yash Johar in 1979. It was taken over in 2004, after his death, by his son, Karan Johar. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes Hindi films. In July 2016, a new sector of the company was launched called Dharma 2.0, which focuses on producing advertising commercials. Another subsidiary of the studio was created in November 2018, called Dharmatic Entertainment, which produces film and television content for online distribution platforms.

History

1980–1998

The company's first production was Raj Khosla's Dostana (1980) starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, and Zeenat Aman. The film was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year. The company then went on to produce Duniya (1984) and Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987), neither of which performed well at the box office. This was followed by Agneepath (1990), which was not a commercial success at that time, but would later become a cult film. It also won a National Film Award for its lead actor Amitabh Bachchan. The company's next two films Gumrah (1993) and Duplicate (1998), which were both directed by Mahesh Bhatt, met with moderate success at the box office.

1998–2009

In 1998, the same year as Duplicate, Dharma Productions also released the romantic comedy-drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which was the directorial debut of Karan Johar, the son of Yash Johar, owner of the production company. The film, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan, proved to be a phenomenal success and this opened a whole new chapter in the history of the company. The film won several awards, including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Film. The company's next film was Karan Johar's ensemble family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) featuring a large ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor. This was followed by Nikhil Advani's romantic comedy-drama Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) starring Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta. Both of these films earned widespread critical acclaim and emerged as major commercial successes, ranking as the top domestic and overseas earners in their respective release years. Dharma's next release was the natural horror film Kaal (2005), which received mixed reviews from critics. This was followed by Karan Johar's musical romantic drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) featuring a ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Kirron Kher. Exploring themes of marital infidelity, adultery and dysfunctional relationships, the film opened to polarizing reviews from critics and audiences upon release; however, it emerged as a major commercial success at the domestic box-office, and became the highest-grossing Indian film of all time overseas at the time of its release. It has since been regarded as a cult classic and ahead of its time, due to its central theme, storyline, and characterizations. Dharma's next release was Tarun Mansukhani's commercially successful romantic comedy Dostana (2008) starring Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, and Priyanka Chopra. This was followed by Ayan Mukerji's coming-of-age comedy-drama Wake Up Sid (2009) starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor, and Rensil D'Silva's counter-terrorism thriller Kurbaan (2009) starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

2010–present

Dharma's first release of 2018 was Meghna Gulzar's spy thriller Raazi starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, based on Harinder Sikka's novel Calling Sehmat. The film was a critical and commercial success. Later that year came Shashank Khaitan's romance Dhadak (2018), which launched the careers of lead actors Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor. This was an adaptation of the Marathi film Sairat (2016). In November 2018, a new sector of the company was introduced called Dharmatic, focusing on producing digital content for online distribution. In 2019, Anurag Singh's Kesari, a period drama based on the Battle of Saragarhi, starring Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra in lead roles. The film earned Rs. 200 crores worldwide in the box office and is currently Kumar's highest grossing film. Dharma released the biopic Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl starring Jahnvi Kapoor in the lead on August 12, 2020. On 12 August 2021, it released the biographical film based on the life of Capt. Vikram Batra, Shershaah which won several accolades including the National Film Award – Special Jury Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Film. In 2024, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, acquired a 50% stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions for approximately ₹1000 crore.

Filmography

Dharmatic Entertainment

In November 2018, Dharma Productions launched a new subsidiary called Dharmatic Entertainment. Johar revealed the focus of the division would be on developing and producing digital content for online distribution platforms. He furthermore announced that he and Apoorva Mehta, who also serves as the chief executive officer of Dharma Productions, would be jointly heading the unit, with Somen Mishra (head of creative development at the parent company) and former journalist Aneesha Baig, heading and overseeing fiction and non-fiction content. In September 2019, Dharmatic Entertainment signed a multi-year exclusive content deal with Netflix India under which the studio would develop and produce a range of fictional and non-fictional series and films for the streaming platform, which would be released as originals.

Film

Television

Footnotes