In July 2016, a new sector of the company was launched called Dharma 2.0, which focuses on producing advertising commercials.[4] Another subsidiary of the studio was created in November 2018, called Dharmatic Entertainment, which produces film and television content for online distribution platforms.[5]
The company then went on to produce Duniya (1984)[7] and Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987), neither of which performed well at the box office.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10][11]
Karan Johar has directed seven feature films and has produced all of the company's films since his father's death in 2004.
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.[14][15] 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.[16]
Dharma's next release was the natural horror film Kaal (2005), which received mixed reviews from critics.[17]
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.[18] 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 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.[22]
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.[23]
In November 2018, Dharma Productions launched a new subsidiary called Dharmatic Entertainment.[26] Johar revealed the focus of the division would be on developing and producing digital content for online distribution platforms.[27] 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,[28] with Somen Mishra (head of creative development at the parent company) and former journalist Aneesha Baig, heading and overseeing fiction and non-fiction content.[29]
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.[30]
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