Thank You Karan Johar For Being The Most Suitable Boy Of Bollywood

What are the images that come to your mind when you hear the word Dharma Production? If you are a true blue Bollywood veteran, the chances are the theme music of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is already playing in your head and your brain is imagining the extravagant sequences of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.

Dharma Productions have always been associated with ‘big’ film since Bollywood and it was following the same trajectory that Yash Johar followed was kept going by a young Karan Johar, who started heading the Dharma Production at a young age. Young age, however, is no biggie for this man who gave India one of its most memorable romances in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai at the age of 26.

He has been called a lot of things, a flag bearer of nepotism, an anti-national, a repetitive director who can only churn out fantasy accounts of frilly and romantic notions of love.  Whether he is one or all of those things or not is a debate reserved for another day. But the fact that Karan Johar is probably one of the most impactful visionaries of the Hindi film industry and a true blue Bollywood buff is something that cannot be contradicted, no matter what.

Most of would agree, that he is one person who understands the dynamics of Bollywood as an industry better than anyone else in the business perhaps. Not only is he a seasoned content creator but is one of the best trade analysts that Bollywood has to offer.

The decision that Dharma Production has taken under his leadership is a sufficient study to understand how much Hindi film industry has changed over the years and arguably Dharma has been a forerunner in that change.

Never once had Karan Johar shied away from taking risks in the last few years. Even though he is mostly associated with extravagant commercial romances, when it was time for a Shahrukh, Kajol and Karan Johar reunion after 2001’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Karan chose a My Name Is Khan in 2010 instead of going with a run-of-the-mill romantic venture that would have been a sure shot success at the box-office. He took the road less traveled and in the end, it was nothing but green pastures for him.

Off late Dharma has delved into backing several small projects as well. It perhaps started with Wake Up Sid and ever since it has supported small content-driven projects like Gippy, The Lunchbox, Ungli and many more.

However, a sensible top player of Bollywood Karan also knows the brand Dharma is and invariably it churns out films like Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which are kind of films that audiences at large expect from Dharma. It is this sense of fine balance of knowing one’s identity and having the sense of adventure to explore unchartered territories that makes Karan Johar the visionary he is.

Very few production houses in Bollywood understand the wind as well Karan Johar does. It was his acumen and understanding of industry that made Dharma a co-player in the biggest project of Indian film industry Baahubali and the rest, as they say, is history.

While most just appreciated the success of Sairat, it was perhaps only Karan who could see the potential of this regional masterpiece in Bollywood. Karan coupled that with launching two star kids with the same film. Call it nepotism, but any person who understands Bollywood as a business can tell you why that is one heck of a brilliant idea.

It was also his understanding of the business that has made Dharma a key-player in the market of digital content as well. It has been able to marry the distinct identity of the brand with the flavor of digital content that is fun, refreshing, pertinent, engaging and entertaining.

A Bollywood buff, a visionary and a dynamic player, one should perhaps remember Karan Johar not as a creator of melodramatic content but as creative mind who not only knows what sells in Bollywood but also can brilliantly execute the very same idea to provide unadularated flavor of Bollywood with a int of cutting-edge brilliance.