Karan Johar recently sold a 50% stake in Dharma Productions to Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla, with an investment of ₹1,000 crore in Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment. Discussing the venture at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit, Karan admitted he was “traumatised” during the acquisition meetings.
Karan Johar admits to being “traumatized’ during acquisition meetings with Adar Poonawalla; says, “I had no idea what was happening when those excel sheets would come in front of me”
Karan Johar shared, “I didn’t know I had a value. I found out. I’ve to say this. I’m probably not going to come across as clever. I want to come across as who I am. I was traumatized in so many of those meetings. I’m a creative artist. I don’t know what’s a ‘put’ and a ‘call,’ a ‘drag’ and a ‘tag.’ He (Adar) kept saying, ‘I’m going to drag and you’re going to tag.’ I know ‘drag’ in a totally different way. I know what a ‘tag’ is in the price tag I pay in the retail zone. I know ‘put’ and ‘call’ in a very different way altogether.”
Karan Johar added, “I had no idea what was happening when those Excel sheets would come in front of me. Your reality is staring at you. You think you’ve done something so wide and vast, and then there’s a value put. So when people told Adar, ‘You’ve paid so much money!’ I say, ‘Has he really?’”
Karan Johar praised Adar Poonawalla for his cooperation, calling the businessman inspirational. He said, “The dynamism displayed by Adar Poonawalla was almost inspirational to me and everyone involved. We cracked a major part of this deal on a Zoom call. He was a superstar in that. He had a few questions he wanted answered and then he said, ‘Okay, where do we sign?’ And we’d been deliberating for years! Then he comes in, sweeping us off our collective feet. This is how I’d have loved to do business if I could afford to. And I can’t afford to, of course. He can.”
Karan Johar mentioned that after years of leading Dharma, he realized he needed a partner to bring fresh business and strategic insights. He will now focus on the creative aspects of Dharma while taking on the role of Executive Chairman. Adar Poonawalla’s decision to enter the media landscape surprised many in the cinema industry. However, Poonawalla admitted he was equally surprised, saying he was drawn to Karan Johar’s storytelling skills. Despite the risks in the entertainment business, he found Dharma’s established brand value to be an appealing factor.
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