Mumbai, Oct 8 (IANS): It won’t be wrong to say that filmmaker Karan Johar is one of the biggest names in Bollywood. However, the news about his banner Dharma Productions has created a tizzy on social media after the news about the label Saregama eyeing a majority stake in the company started to do the rounds.

Social media users are wondering why Dharma Productions, with its so-called impressive hit list, is going to be acquired by Saregama.

The sale to Saregama points at financial struggles, despite the claimed success of “Brahmastra: Part 1”, “JugJugg Jiyo”, “Bad Newz” and “Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani”.

A user on X, formerly called Twitter, wrote: “Karan Johar’s Dharma Production is in big financial soup”.

Another said: “Bollywood producer Karan Johar and Kangana Ranaut’s enemy almost finished”.

Established in 1979 by filmmaker Yash Johar, the banner’s first production was the 1980’s Raj Khosla's “Dostana” starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, and Zeenat Aman. It then went on to make films such as “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…”, “Kal Ho Naa Ho” and “Dostana” to name a few.

The production banners’ recent projects include Raghav Juyal-starrer “Kill”, Siddharth Malhotra’s “Yodha”, “Mr & Mrs Mahi” with Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao and Vicky Kaushal, Ammy Virk and Triptii Dimri’s “Bad Newz”.

The banner’s next is “Jigra” starring Alia Bhatt and Vedang Raina, which is scheduled to release this week in the theatres.

The news about the label eyeing a major chunk of the stake in Dharma Productions comes around the time when box-office numbers have become unpredictable and shooting star fees, which is making it tough for production companies to operate independently.

Karan too had discussed “unprecedented” compensation by movie stars. He had said that some leading actors had demanded Rs 40 crore in fees for “Kill” and added that he was stunned as it was the entire budget of the film.

Apart from “Jigra”, Dharma Productions’ next film, which is queued up for release is “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” starring Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra and Rohit Saraf.

“Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” is written and helmed by “Dhadak” maker Shashank Khaitan. The film stars Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor in the lead roles, the romantic comedy also features Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, Maniesh Paul, Akshay Oberoi, Manoj Joshi and Nishigandha Wad in pivotal roles.

The film is slated to be released in theaters on April 18, 2025.