It couldn’t get any better for Karan Johar.2022 has been a lucrative year for Johar’s Dharma Productions. In spite of the skepticism the long-delayed Brahmastra earned approximately Rs 400 crores at the Indian boxoffice and an additional 200 crores outside India.
It qualifies as an unambiguous winner ,and a huge relief for Karan Johar and Dharma who kept receiving fierce negative feedback on the film before its release. Karan backed his director Ayan Mukerji’s dream to the hilt, not allowing the naysayers(well meaning or otherwise) to dampen his director’s spirit.
While most high-profile married couples are known to be of little interest to the audience(Kareena and Saif’s films together from J P Dutta’s LOC Kargil to Rensil d’Silva’s Kurbaan have been flops) Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt have been accepted as a screen pair. Oh yes, one more thing: Alia’s nasal ‘Shiva Shiva’ became the meme fest of the year.
Karan Johar’s Dharma scored another success, albeit on a lower scale, with Jugjugg Jeeyo , a crazy family drama ,a delirious cheer-jerker with a completely over-the-top Anil Kapoor. Jugjugg Jeeyo, it raked in the moolah(Rs 140 crores ) and provided fodder for many a chulha at Dharma. And yes ,it also kept the hope alive for Varun Dhawan. Jugjugg Jeeyo made more money than Varun Dhawan’s Bhediya which in spite of all the hype lost money heavily.
Dharma Production OTT feature Gehraiyaan on Amazon fared extremely well and boosted Deepika Padukone’s equity as a serious actress. Padukone tries hard to give a semblance of structure to her character Alisha, hellbent on ruining everything she touches. Alisha embarks on a hellishly ruinous relationship with her cousin’s boyfriend Zain.As played by Siddhant(Gully Boy) Chaturvedi, Zain is neither particularly charming nor exceptionally intelligent. Just why Alisha is attracted to him remains a mystery. Could it be the forbidden fruit, the banana-mere-ghar-aana syndrome?
Whatever the appeal, Gehraiyaan was an outright winner for Dharma Productions and Amazon.
At the end of the year Karan Johar’s Naam Govinda Mera was a life-saver for Disney+Hotstar after dud premiers like Babli Bouncer and Kaun Pravin Tambe.Although Vicky Kaushal is clearly not cut out for comedy, viewers on the digital platform have given wacky comedy a thumbs-up.
Says Karan Johar, “We at Dharma Production have no reason to complain. We had our share of successes in 2022. I only wish there would be more boxoffice numbers for the releases in 2023, not just from Dharma but other production houses as well.”
