Filmmaker Karan Johar and OTT platform Netflix have ended their exclusive content deal that was was signed two years ago, The Economic Times reported.
In September 2019, the streaming platform had announced a long-term partnership with Johar’s digital content studio Dharmatic Entertainment to create a broad range of new fiction and non-fiction series and films, exclusively for its viewers.
“The deal has been called off and Dharmatic can now work with other video streaming services too,” an unnamed source with direct knowledge told The Economic Times.
However, Netflix and Dharmatic will continue to work on shows and series that were previously signed and announced. “There are multiple projects which have already been green-lit and deliveries of these will take place over the next 12-18 months. Then, there are some returning seasons too,” another person told the publication. Whether they will work together after that is not yet clear, the person added.
While there has been no official announcement from either Netflix or Johar regarding this, one of the sources told The Economic Times that “too much interference” from the streaming giant was one of the main reasons the exclusive deal was called off. “The entire industry knows it. They (Netflix) want everything a certain way and sometimes it’s frustrating and confusing. There is a disconnect between what they want and what they say,” the source added.
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But, according to another report, Johar told journalist Subhash K Jha that the deal was supposed to end after two years. “It was always a two-year deal with Netflix. No more, no less. As always, this is a case of making a mountain out of a molehill,” the filmmaker told Jha.
Dharmatic and Netflix are currently working on a new series named Finding Anamika as well as the next season of Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives. They also have an upcoming film, Meenakshi Sundareshwar, and a few other projects in the pipeline.