Dharma Productions
| File:Dharma Productions logo.gif | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (1976) |
| Founder | Yash Johar |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
|
Key people
|
Hiroo Yash Johar Karan Johar |
| Products | Film production Film distribution |
| Owner | Karan Johar |
| Website | Dharma Productions |
Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian production and distribution company established by Yash Johar in 1979.[1] It was taken over in 2004 after his death by his son Karan Johar. Based in Mumbai it mainly produces and distributes Hindi films.[2]
Contents
History
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Initial success (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). Its next film was Agneepath (1990), which was not a major box office success, but won a National Film Award for its lead actor Amitabh Bachchan. Its next two films were Gumrah (1993) and Duplicate (1998), which were both directed by Mahesh Bhatt.
Rise to prominence (1998–2009)
The production house reached a turning point with the release of Karan Johar's directorial debut, the blockbuster romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji. The film won several awards, including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Film, and has become a classic over the years.
The company's next film was Karan Johar's 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 drama Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Saif Ali Khan. Both of these films earned commercial success and critical acclaim.
Dharma's next release was the natural horror film Kaal (2005), which received mixed to positive reviews from critics. This was followed by Karan Johar's romantic drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) featuring a large ensemble cast led by Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Amitabh Bachchan, and Kirron Kher. The film became a moderate commercial success despite the fact that it dealt with the controversial subject of marital infidelity.
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 film Wake Up Sid (2009) starring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma. Rensil D'Silva's counter-terrorism thriller Kurbaan (2009) starring Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, and Vivek Oberoi. Both Wake Up Sid and Kurbaan received critical acclaim, but the latter failed to make a mark at the box office.
Widespread success (2010–present)
In 2010, Dharma produced two of the top ten highest-grossing Bollywood films of the year. The fifth spot on the list was taken by Karan Johar’s counter-terrorism drama My Name Is Khan (2010) starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, while the seventh spot was taken by Punit Malhotra’s romantic comedy I Hate Luv Storys (2010) starring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor. Later that year, the production house produced the family drama We Are Family (2010), a Hindi remake of the Hollywood film Stepmom (1998). The film was not a major commercial success, but received praise for the performances of the two lead actresses Kajol and Kareena Kapoor.
The company's first film of 2012 was Karan Malhotra's Agneepath, a retelling of Dharma’s 1990 film of the same name. It featured Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt in the roles originated by Amitabh Bachchan and Danny Denzongpa respectively, while Priyanka Chopra and Rishi Kapoor played principal roles not in the original film. This film emerged as much larger commercial success than the original Agneepath. This was followed by Shakun Batra’s moderately successful romantic comedy Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012) starring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor. After this came Karan Johar’s coming-of-age comedy-drama Student of the Year (2012), which marked the debut of its three lead actors Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.
Dharma’s first release of 2013 was the unsuccessful teen comedy Gippi. This was followed by Ayan Mukerji’s coming-of-age romance Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) starring Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles with Aditya Roy Kapur and Kalki Koechlin in supporting roles. The film became a major commercial success upon its release and still ranks among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all-time. Dharma was also one of the many production houses associated with the widely acclaimed drama The Lunchbox (2013) starring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. They finished off the year with Punit Malhotra’s relatively unsuccessful romantic comedy Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2013) starring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan.
In 2014, Dharma produced three commercially successful romantic comedies all directed by first-time directors. The first was Vinil Matthews’s Hasee Toh Phasee (2014) starring Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra, which Dharma co-produced with Phantom Films. The second was Abhishek Varman’s 2 States (2014) starring Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, a film adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s novel of the same name. The third was Shashank Khaitan’s Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) starring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. After these three romantic comedies came Rensil D'Silva's relatively unsuccessful black comedy Ungli (2014).
In July 2015, Dharma distributed the Hindi-dubbed version of S. S. Rajamouli's epic film Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), which was originally filmed in Telugu and Tamil. Upon its release, the film became a major commercial and critical success and currently ranks as one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all-time.
In August 2015, the company released Karan Malhotra’s Brothers, an adaptation of the Hollywood film Warrior (2011), starring Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra in the lead roles with Jacqueline Fernandez and Jackie Shroff playing supporting roles. Dharma also collaborated with Phantom Films to co-produce Vikas Bahl's romantic comedy Shaandaar starring Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, which was released one month later. Neither of these films performed very well at the box office and failed to receive much critical appreciation.
March 2016 saw the release of Shakun Batra's critically and commercially successful family drama Kapoor & Sons starring Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajat Kapoor, Fawad Khan, Sidharth Malhotra, and Alia Bhatt.
Upcoming projects
As of March 2016, Dharma has announced many projects in multiple stages of production. In September 2016, the company will release Nitya Mehra's Baar Baar Dekho starring Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif, which they are co-producing with Excel Entertainment. Scheduled to release in October 2016 is the romantic film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which will be directed by Karan Johar and will feature Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Anushka Sharma in pivotal roles.
In January 2017, Dharma will release Shaad Ali's romantic film OK Jaanu starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, which is a Hindi-language remake of Mani Ratnam's Tamil film O Kadhal Kanmani (2015). Slated to release in March 2017 is Shashank Khaitan's Badrinath Ki Dulhania starring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, which will be the second installment of a franchise that began with Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014). Also currently under production is Gauri Shinde's untitled film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt.
The company has also confirmed that they will be producing Ayan Mukerji's currently untitled superhero film starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, as well as Rohit Shetty's remake of the cult classic Ram Lakhan (1989).
References
External links
- Dharma Productions on Facebook
- Dharma Productions on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Official website
- Dharma Productions at the Internet Movie Database
