Dharma Productions joins hands with Fox Star Studios for a 500cr deal

With quite a number of offbeat films taking centre stage at the box office this year, Dharma Productions who are gearing up for their share of huge releases this year, has inked one of the biggest deals. Renowned producer Karan Johar has collaborated with Fox Star Studios for a deal worth Rs. 500 crore.

According to the said deal, Dharma and Fox Star will jointly co-produce and distribute nine films over a period of three years which involves some popular directors like Karan Johar himself, Ayan Mukerji, Karan Malhotra, Abhishek Verman among others. Also, the said films which are a part of the deal will be high on star power which includes cast like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor among others. While of late, Fox Star Studios has been facing tremendous setbacks with films like Khamoshiyan, Mr. X and Bombay Velvet failing at the box office, the studio has decided to change their strategy and this a step towards it. Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India said, "Fox Star is delighted to partner with Karan Johar, a creative visionary and one of the industry's leading director-producer's with an impressive line-up of films planned in the coming few years."

"Movies for me have always been a blend of artistic and commercial resources. Dharma Productions has always endeavoured to attain the highest form of celluloid excellence and entertain simultaneously. I am glad we have found a partner in Star India and Fox Star Studios for a visionary 9 films alliance," said Karan Johar. "This partnership will not only be the coming together of two forces who understand the need of the cinematic hour but also work as a unit to increase the footfall strength at the movies and empower other verticals. It's a new age of cinema and this association is a glorious reflection of the times," he added.

Apoorva Mehta, CEO of Dharma Productions, said, "It is by far the biggest collaboration that the Indian film industry has ever seen. With this strategic deal, Dharma has entered into a new phase of movie business which will provide a disruptive growth model for all the parties involved. This landmark decision will bring on board the most visionary and astute leaders together who will drive the overall strategy for making, promoting and distributing movies. I am happy to say that Dharma is excited and geared up for these new opportunities in the coming years and it definitely looks like the beginning of a game-changing era for the industry."

As per the deal, some films will be a co-production while others will solely be for distribution. For production, the revenues may be divided equally, and for distribution it may vary from 10-12.5 %.

On the other hand, Vijay Singh, CEO of Fox Star Studios said, "This strategic alliance is path-breaking as it envisages the stakeholders pooling in their collective strengths and thereby chalking a new path for Bollywood, specifically in the way in which films are marketed and distributed. Consolidation through strategic alliances is the way forward in the film industry."