Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar and Netflix have ended their exclusive content deal signed in September 2019 whereby Johar’s digital content studio Dharmatic Entertainment was to supply all its content – fiction and non-fiction series and films – only to the California-based streaming giant.

“The deal has been called off and Dharmatic can now work with other video streaming services too,” a person with direct knowledge of the matter told ET.

Another person said the two will continue to work together on shows and series already signed and announced. “There are multiple projects which have already been green-lighted or announced, and deliveries of these are over the next 12-18 months,” the person said. “Then there are some returning seasons too. However, will they work together after that is not yet clear.” 

Dharmatic, digital content arm of Johar’s Dharma Productions, is currently working on new series ‘Finding Anamika’, and the next season of ‘Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives’. There is also an upcoming film, ‘Meenakshi Sundareshwar’ apart from a few other projects in the pipeline.

Queries sent to Dharma Productions and Netflix did not elicit any response till press time on Monday.

One of the sources cited above alleged that “too much interference” from Netflix has been one of the main reasons for the exclusive deal to be called off.

“The entire (content) industry knows it. They (Netflix) want everything in a certain way and sometimes it's frustrating and confusing. There is a disconnect between what they want and what they say,” he alleged.

At the time of announcing the deal with Johar two years ago, Monika Shergill, vice president – content (then director of international originals, India) at Netflix, had said the company allows its creators “full creative freedom and support”.

At that time Johar had told ET that it was “much more” than just a business transaction. “It is an emotional alliance, a relationship,” he had said.

It was Netflix’ biggest deal yet in the Indian market as an exclusivity clause was attached to it. None of the streamer’s Indian deals, be it with Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment for films and web series or with Aamir Khan Productions for the actor’s films, had an exclusive arrangement.

ET had also learned that as part of the deal, Johar was exclusive to Netflix and except for pre-existing ‘Koffee With Karan', he wasn’t supposed to be a part of any show for any rival streaming service.

Last month, Netflix announced a multi-year partnership with Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment. As part of the non-exclusive deal, the production house will make a variety of projects under its series banner Excel Media and Entertainment, starting with ‘Dabba Cartel’ and ‘Queen Of The Hill’.

Netflix had entered India in January 2016 as part of its global rollout. It started commissioning content after April 2017 when Netflix was registered as a limited liability partnership (LLP) in India.

The year gone by brought about many changes, one among them being that digital platforms became the new face of Indian entertainment. Naturally then, Netflix India is ready to go full steam ahead, giving the country’s talented storytellers the platform they deserve, thus putting Indian stories on the map. The streaming giant rolled out its 2021 slate of 41 titles — if the year ahead will see Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Raveena Tandon and Sonakshi Sinha making their web debut, it will also have familiar series like Kota Factory, Delhi Crime, Jamtara and Masaba Masaba, among others, returning with their second instalments.

For Srishti Arya, director international original film, Netflix India, the keyword this year is diversity. “We are doing Indian documentaries for the first time. [We are focusing on] unscripted stuff, especially after Fabulous Lives [Of Bollywood Wives], which brought us a lot of encouragement. We are doing the Indian version of Predator, which will be a crime documentary. We also have Searching For Sheela, where we see Ma Anand Sheela returning to her country after 35 years. We’re exploring different kinds of humour through Kapil Sharma’s web show and stand-up comedy,” she says.

On its roster are 13 movies that include Kartik Aaryan’s Dhamaka, Taapsee Pannu’s Haseen Dillruba, Mani Ratnam’s Navrasa and Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple. Having invested in anthologies right from Lust Stories (2018), Arya is particularly excited about Ajeeb Daastaans, a collection of five relationship dramas backed by Karan Johar. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Aditi Rao Hydari, among others. “Some stories work better in a condensed form. What is exciting for our viewers is that in an anthology, they get four viewpoints on the same material.”

Dixit will foray into the web world with Finding Anamika while Tandon will play a local cop investigating a big case in Aranyak. “The idea is to do what is best for the story. When you see Madhuri’s show, she adds tremendous value to it because she is Madhuri Dixit,” states Arya.

At a time when OTT platforms have truly come into their own, she asserts that the prudent move is to back stories, not stars. “Last year was a hard time for people, but it gave Netflix the opportunity to be there [for viewers]. We constantly want to find great storytellers and back their vision. We see ourselves as a champion of [powerful] stories.”