After ruling cinema halls with family entertainers and larger-than-life stories for over 2 decades, Karan Johar's Dharma Productions is now striking the right balance between theatrical films and digital content. Over the years, the digital arm of the prestigious production house, founded by the late Yash Johar, has catered to the dynamic tastes of its audience. Branching out in several directions, Dharma Productions never stopped experimenting and we ain't complaining as the experiments have put the banner on a new pedestal.
2022 has been successful for Dharma Productions with web films like Gehraiyaan and now Govinda Naam Mera. As we surrender ourselves to Govinda Naam Mera and its engaging world of crime, mystery and humour, let's take a look at how Dharma Productions has been a pioneer in quality OTT cinema. From Guilty to Gehraiyaan, the record has been clean and clear for Karan Johar and his team.
The successful run of Dharma Productions on OTT started with the critically-acclaimed and popular anthology, Lust Stories, in 2018. Karan directed Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal in his short film revolving around the sexual desires of a woman. The maverick filmmaker also directed a short in Ghost Stories, another anthology, in 2020. Both short films were appreciated.
Continuing the association with Netflix, Karan struck a deal to premiere Kiara's Guilty on the platform in 2020. The golden girl of Bollywood gave the banner yet another successful project. Guilty was widely appreciated and loved for its sensitive yet engaging storytelling revolving around MeToo. Up next for them was Janhvi Kapoor's OTT debut, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. The well-researched and goosebump-inducing biopic was loved by all and resulted in good viewership.
Dharma Productions' digital arm Dharmatic Entertainment went ahead to produce Netflix's anthology titled Ajeeb Daastaans in April 2021. After back-to-back hits, the big success came in the form of Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara's Shershaah. Not just the performances, but the film's songs were chartbusters for the longest time. Returning to his comfort zone, rom-coms, Karan produced Meenakshi Sundareshwar for Netflix. The Sanya Malhotra-Abhimanyu Dassani film was loved for its sweetness and simple storytelling format.
One cannot disagree that Gehraiyaan received polarised reviews from critics as well as the audience. Despite that, the Shakun Batra directorial found its loyal fans. For several months, Gehraiyaan remained to be the talk of the town.
It is finally time to enter the world of crime and mystery with Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani and Bhumi Pednekar's Govinda Naam Mera. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the film premiered on Disney+Hotstar today.