Apoorva Mehta and Karan Johar's friendship that shaped Dharma Productions' success for more than four decades

Their friendship has grown into one of the most fruitful professional collaborations in Indian cinema more than forty years later.

For Apoorva Mehta, CEO of the renowned Dharma Productions, one of the most transformative moments of his life came in class VI at Greenlawns High School in south Mumbai. What began as an ordinary school day turned into the defining moment of his life when he met none other than filmmaker and producer Karan Johar in his class.

Their friendship has grown into one of the most fruitful professional collaborations in Indian cinema more than forty years later. As the founder of Dharma Productions, the production company his father, Yash Johar, established, Karan would go on to become one of Bollywood's most significant directors.

Reflecting on his association with Dharma, Apoorva told Mint, “For many people, their careers are happy accidents, and I’m certainly a testament to that,” says Mehta, 53, in a candid conversation over a video call, just days before departing for the Cannes Film Festival, where Dharma’s latest project Homebound premiered in the prestigious Un Certain Regard category. “I didn’t know him (Karan) at all. It was just one of those things—I don’t know why I did it, but I’m very glad I did.”

Initially, Karan started establishing connections in the film industry, getting to know people like distributor Anil Thadani and director Aditya Chopra, but Apoorva took over his family’s copper rolling business at an early age after his father passed away.

Karan, on the other hand, had begun his journey in the film industry with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1995 as an assistant director and then made his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998.

Soon, Apoorva joined Dharma Productions in 2003 as he was not satisfied working in the metal industry and wanted to explore his passion for films.

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What began as a casual introduction to the organisation eventually developed into a full-time position that would shape his life for the next twenty years. In his capacity as CEO, Mehta was instrumental in extending Dharma's reach outside of the conventional film industry. Under his direction, the company expanded its business endeavours, adopted digital storytelling, and adjusted to the quickly changing entertainment consumption landscape.

Indeed, what began with a simple classroom gesture evolved into a lifelong alliance that helped shape the landscape of contemporary Indian cinema.