Tag Archives: Karan Johar

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Pitching for Stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions: ET Report

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Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is reportedly in discussions to acquire a stake in Dharma Productions, a prominent Bollywood film production house owned by Karan Johar. According to sources quoted by the Economic Times, this potential deal aims to bolster Reliance’s expanding media and entertainment portfolio, although the exact size of the stake under negotiation remains undisclosed.

Karan Johar, who currently owns a 90.7% stake in Dharma Productions, has been looking to monetize his holdings for some time. Previous attempts to sell part of his stake faced challenges due to disagreements over valuation, noted the report.

Founded by Yash Johar in 1979 and now led by his son Karan, Dharma Productions has gained acclaim for producing numerous successful Bollywood films. Its notable hits include the 1980 film Dostana, the critically acclaimed Agneepath in 1990, and romantic comedies like Kuch Hota Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho. Recent successes include the biopics Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and Sher Shah, released in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In addition, the company launched subsidiaries like Dharma 2.0 in 2016 for advertising and Dharmatic Entertainment for OTT content production in 2018.

For Reliance Industries, this acquisition enables to widen its footprint in India’s content production sector. RIL’s media and entertainment division combines already Jio Studios, Network18 Media & Investments, Colosceum Media, and the CNBC Group, besides digital platforms like First Post, Moneycontrol.com, and Voot. Additionally, in 2017, Reliance acquired a 24.9% minority stake in Balaji Telefilms.

Jio Studios has emerged as one of India’s largest film studios, recently achieving success with Star 2, which became the highest-grossing Hindi film.

Dharma Productions presents an appealing opportunity for Reliance due to its strong brand and impressive track record in Bollywood. In FY23, the production house reported a revenue increase to ₹1,040 crore, despite a 59% drop in net profit primarily due to rising operational costs.

As competition from OTT platforms intensifies and content production costs escalate, companies like Dharma are seeking partnerships to achieve financial stability and adapt to the evolving market landscape.

 

‘Shiddat’ not to be shelved, Madhuri Dixit to replace Sridevi, confirms daughter Janhvi

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Karan Johar, who is introducing Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor in ‘Dhadak’ is not relenting on his next iconic film ‘Shiddat’ as many people have speculated that the iconic film will be shelved following the sudden demise of the star.

Initially planned to feature Sridevi in lead role, Karan wanted it to be a never-seen-before Sridevi film and was getting ready with paraphernalia but the untimely demise of Sridevi has set the plan off the course. The actor was found dead in a bathtub in a Dubai hotel room last month.

However, Karan has found an equally talented Madhuri Dixit, the Dhak Dhak girl to replace the Hawa Hawai girl, confirmed Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi, who is busy for her first magazine cover page shoot with ‘Vogue’ from March 20.

Janhvi’s Instagram post has gone viral that within minutes, it became the top searched string on Google India and widely-shared news on Facebook and Twitter.

Janhvi said the Kapoor family is happy that Madhuri Dixit Nene is replacing her late mother Sridevi in the film and also thanked her. "Abhishek Varman’s next film was very close to mom’s heart …Dad, Khushi and I are thankful to Madhuriji for now being a part of this beautiful film," she said.

‘Shiddat’ was originally planned with Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt as the lead pairs, bringing in Abhishek Varman who had earlier directed films such as ‘Hasee Toh Phansi’, ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ and ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ as director.

‘Shiddat’ is a joint project by big brands such as Fox Star Studios and Dharma productions of Karan Johar. Besides, Sajid Nadiadwala is being roped in. Top fashion designer Manish Malhotra is tipped to be the costume designer, while the music director A.R. Rehman has reportedly been sounded.