Karan Johar's Dharma Productions has long been synonymous with cinematic grandeur and unforgettable storytelling in Bollywood. However, what's equally remarkable is the production house's penchant for forging meaningful collaborations with talented filmmakers from the South Indian film industry. Over the years, Johar has joined forces with several acclaimed directors and producers from the South Indian film industries who have given the audience some of the best cinematic experiences. Let’s take some of the notable collaborations between Dharma Productions and southern stalwarts.

Untitled next with ‘Marco’ director

Filmmaker Haneef Adeni, known for the critically acclaimed Malayalam film ‘Marco’, has been signed by Dharma Productions for an untitled next, reportedly. Furthermore, reports claim that the movie will be a high-octane actioner, and will mark the Hindi directorial debut of Haneef. The film will reportedly be a multi-lingual project. While reports are doing rounds about this new collaboration, details about the said project are under wraps.

‘Baahubali’ franchise

The Baahubali franchise was one of the first South Indian films that was presented by Dharma Productions. Directed by SS Rajamouli, while ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ was released in 2015, ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ hit theaters in 2017. Although Johar’s production house brought the Hindi rights of the ‘Baahubali’ franchise, the same didn’t happen for Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’, whose rights were given to Jayantilal Gada’s Pen Studios.

Liger

Starring Telugu star Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday, ‘Liger’ marked the Hindi and Telugu debut of the actors, respectively. It was directed by Telugu filmmaker Puri Jagannad who also co-produced it with Karan’s production banner. Despite huge promotions before its release, ‘Liger’ turned out to be a failure at the box office. The film was surrounded by multiple controversies, including boycott calls.

Devara: Part 1

Apart from the ‘Baahubali’ franchise, Johar’s production house has also presented ‘The Ghazi Attack’ (Telugu) and Tamil film ‘2.0’ in the past. Most recently, Dharma Productions brought the Hindi rights for Jr. NTR’s highly anticipated Hindi debut film ‘Devara: Part 1.’ Co-starring Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor, the first installment of the movie was released in September 2024 while the shooting for its sequel is expected to begin in 2026, as per reports.