 "Cannes 2025: Karan Johar says his father sold Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham for only $5000 at the festival 'Aishwarya and Shah Rukh were here and…'")
Karan Johar has arrived at the Cannes 2025 too and has dropped some unheard revelations at the festival about his film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and also Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan.
The filmmaker revealed, “I have a lot of emotional memories of Cannes. I remember it was 2002 when I came here with my father. He struck a deal here and we sold the European rights of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham for five thousand dollars.”
He added, “I thought it was very less and I asked my father about it. He told me, ‘Look, we have to make a start somewhere.’ He wasn’t there to see the cultural movement we created with Bollywood films.”
Karan also said, “Aishwarya and Shah Rukh were on the red carpet. Aishwarya is literally like the queen of Cannes. Every time we are here, Ash creates a huge amount of media energy and excitement.”
In 2024, Karan Johar sold 50 per cent stake of his production house - Dharma Productions to Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer of Serum Institute of India for Rs 1000 crore. The filmmaker recently spoke about this decision and shared that they needed funds for the growth of the company.
“I didn’t want to do collaborative projects so that all the profitability stays with Dharma Productions. Our biggest hits at that time all had partners because we couldn’t finance those films on our own ability, because we were new,” Karan told Raj Shamani on his YouTube channel.
Talking about his late father Yash Johar’s legacy, he shared, “Those who say nepotism, they don’t know my history. I inherited goodwill from my father but not money. Before Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, we had 5 flops in a row.” Karan recalled that it was his film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai that resurrected Dharma Productions. “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’s release in 1998 marked the beginning of Dharma Productions as a strong company. What I had was my father’s goodwill and his tremendous belief. He had tremendous goodwill, he was loved a lot but he didn’t see success.”