Dharma Productions has been behind decades of the most quintessential Bollywood films, from the dramatic 1980s or international 1990s. As of 2020, the company has completed four decades of bringing joy and entertainment to movie-going audiences all across the globe.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this studio, Karan Johar shared a heart-warming letter of appreciation for his late father, Yash Johar.
Johar, or KJo as he’s fondly known, recalled the first ever film produced under the banner of Dharma Production, Dostana. The film starred Zeenat Aman, Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha in the lead roles. To accompany his sentiments, he posted a nostalgic picture of a young Karan (probably in his teenage) clutching to the shoulders of his father as they both look into the camera.
The caption is written in way of conversation between Yash and Karan. He says 40 years ago on this very date, Dostana was the very first film to be released by Yash and thus starting a company which is so close to his heart.
He added, “All your tremendous karma is in every sunshine ray of @dharmamovies… all we have done is bask in the glory of your goodwill… we stand tall because of your teachings and pray every day that you are proud of all of us Papa (sic)!”
Karan went on to mention everyone who works hard on Dharma every day to spread cheer (through their films). He concluded the caption with, “We miss you …but we feel your hand on our head and that gives us the courage to combat and to create… I love you so much Papa…”
Here’s the original post:
Dharma productions was founded in 1979 by Yash Johar as a production as well as distribution company. Between 1980 and 2020, the company has produced 52 mainstream Bollywood releases. The list includes some of Hindi film industry’s big budget and popular films each decade like Agneepath, Duplicate, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and My Name is Khan.
Karan also made his directorial debut under his father’s banner with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Senior Johar led the operations till his demise in 2004 after which KJo took the reins of his father’s legacy. In 2018, the company created a new department called Dharmatic which mainly focuses on digital content and OTTs.
