Karan Johar gets candid about selling 50% of Dharma's stakes
What's the story
Karan Johar recently shared that he has no regrets about selling a 50% stake in his banner, Dharma Productions, to Adar Poonawalla for ₹1,000 crore last year. The deal was surprising as Dharma Productions was a legacy of Johar's late father, Yash Johar, and one of India's top production houses. In an interview with Curly Tales, he reflected on this decision and his journey of building the company after his father's demise.
Business partnership
Johar credits his best friend, Apoorva Mehta, for his success
Johar admitted that he isn't the best businessman and credited his best friend Apoorva Mehta for Dharma Productions's success. "My business acumen is not the sharpest...Apoorva, who's the CEO of my company... he's the business mind behind Dharma, Dharmatic, Dharma 2.0, DCA, everything that we do." "He's the business brain and I'm the creative source," Johar added.
Personal journey
The journey of building Dharma Productions
Johar also recalled feeling lost after his father's death in 2004, as he had no siblings or family to help him run Dharma Productions. He reached out to Mehta, who left his job in London and returned to India. "From then on, it's been 20 years of us working together...20 years of building Dharma Productions and creating it into what it is today," Johar said.
Stake sale
Was selling a stake in Dharma Productions the right decision?
Johar reflected on the decision to sell a 50% stake in Dharma Productions. "It was the right decision for growth too, because I knew that 50 will come back as 1500 if I had that 50% investment." He candidly admitted to being a poor negotiator: "I'm the worst. I should never be in the negotiation room because I'll always give up more and receive less."
Financial struggle
Dharma Productions's financial struggles and future focus
The past few years have been challenging for Dharma Productions. According to Campaign India, the company's net profit dropped by 59% to ₹11 crore in FY23. Last year, the company co-produced Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra, which earned around ₹431 crore against a budget of ₹350 crore, as per Sacnilk. Speaking at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit earlier, Johar had spoken about the challenges of tentpole films and his belief in middle-budget films as the real money-makers.