Shah Rukh Khan's Selfless Act Saved Karan Johar's Production House from Ruin

As of November 2025, the long-standing friendship between Bollywood director Karan Johar and actor Shah Rukh Khan continues to be a source of inspiration. The two have collaborated on numerous successful films, including 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and 'My Name Is Khan'.

However, in the past, Shah Rukh also played a crucial role in supporting Karan's family production house, Dharma Productions, during a difficult time. In the late 1990s, Dharma Productions was struggling to recover from a series of box-office failures, including 'Duniya', 'Muqaddar Ka Faisla', 'Gumrah', and the high-profile flop 'Agneepath'.

Karan's father, veteran producer Yash Johar, was desperately in need of a hit film to keep the production house afloat. It was then that filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt stepped in with a unique offer - he agreed to direct a film for Dharma Productions free of charge, but on the condition that Shah Rukh Khan played the lead role.

Despite his initial reluctance to work with Bhatt, Shah Rukh ultimately agreed to take on the project, understanding the financial troubles facing the Johar family. As recounted by Viveck Vaswani, a close associate of Shah Rukh in his early days, the actor went through a heated exchange with Bhatt's team before eventually giving in to Karan's plea for help.

The resulting film, 'Duplicate', may not have been a major commercial success, but it played a crucial role in keeping Dharma Productions alive during a challenging period. It would be several years later, in 1998, that the production house would bounce back with Karan's directorial debut, 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', which cemented its position as a leading Bollywood studio.