Filmmaker Karan Johar has shared his perspective on recent music and film business deals involving Bhansali Productions-Saregama and Excel Entertainment-Universal Music, describing each partnership as driven by different needs and intentions. The filmmaker was speaking on Sarthak Ahuja’s podcast.
Speaking about Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s deal with Saregama, Johar said, “I think there was a need for everyone to be self-sufficient. I think he (Bhansali) was bogged down, perhaps, by the system of going to a streaming service with every film, finding and seeking a music partnership, getting best value, etc. He felt that let me find a home. This was more for Mr Bhansali’s comfort. I feel he felt comfortable. Like I feel comfortable with Adar (Poonawalla).”
Johar suggested that for Bhansali, the move was about stability and ease within a system that can often be demanding and transactional. By aligning with a single music partner, he implied that Bhansali may have been seeking consistency and comfort rather than repeatedly negotiating individual deals.
On the partnership between Excel Entertainment and Universal Music, Johar explained: “I think it’s a larger game. It’s a 30% ownership right now. It’s also for all musical rights but also Universal wanted to diversify into filmmaking and not going about it on their own. I think they believed that Excel are masters and craftsmen of storytelling. I think they wanted to, kind of, diversify and do that with already existing minds. Theirs was a different kind of coming together, I think.”
According to Johar, while Bhansali’s arrangement appears rooted in personal comfort and self-sufficiency, the Excel-Universal collaboration represents a broader strategic alignment — one aimed at diversification and creative expansion on a larger scale.
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