Karan Johar's defeat turned victory for Kartik Aaryan: A timeline on their professional ups and downs

Karan Johar is considered the Godfather of many star kids. From launching star children like Alia Bhatt, Ananya Panday, Janhvi Kapoor to offering them back to back movies despite consistent failures the head of Dharma Productions is known to offer full support to them. Things took an unexpected turn when the Kal Ho Naa Ho producer roped in an outsider Kartik Aaryan for Dostana 2.

The rising popularity of this chocolate boy made Karan Johar approach Koki who was paired opposite star kid Janhvi Kapoor. While most of the outsiders will compromise to any level to get a movie from Dharma or YRF, it seems Kartik Aaryan did not seem to follow the same path and there was a big fallout between Karan and Kartik. It was alleged that the famous director threw Kartik out of the movie because he and Janhvi had a bitter breakup after a short fling.

When destiny turned the tables in favour of Kartik Aaryan

When the Karan Johar-Kartik fall out happened, Dharma was one of the biggest production houses in Bollywood. On the other hand the Luka Chuppi actor was a rising star but had a long way to go. Karan not only threw Koki out but also banned him for life from Dharma. Kartik was forced to return the signing amount by Red Chillies as Shah Rukh Khan’s production house was producing Freddy which had Kartik in the lead.

Simultaneously, an aggressive campaign started streaming across the web that Kartik Aaryan is an unprofessional actor, possibly a PR strategy by Dharma. Tables turned in favour of Koki when Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 became a big hit, one of the biggest hits after the theaters became operational post-Corona pandemic. Even then it was promoted that BB2 became successful because it was a part of a cult franchise.

The journey of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 & Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 was full of challenges as well as admirable! People mounted against him that he will never able to portrait the character of Rooh Baba, but he proven everyone wrong! He did it overcoming all the odds ❤🧿 #KartikAaryan pic.twitter.com/Bw3MVOnOIL

— Kartik Aaryan Fanpage. (@kartikfancafe) May 18, 2025

At the same time Brahmastra was released. Although it had many big stars like Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and others, it did not do the expected business. Box-office wise it was declared a hit but Dharma was badly hit by Brahmastra’s low level success.

chandu champion (2024)

What do you love most about Chandu Champion (2024)?

1️⃣ Kartik Aaryan's compelling portrayal of Murlikant Petkar
2️⃣ The inspiring true story of India's first Paralympics gold medalist
3️⃣ Kabir Khan's engaging direction and storytelling pic.twitter.com/WLE2KYca1R

— Tazeem Ali 🦋 (@i_m_tazeemashiq) March 13, 2025

Karan needs Kartik Aaryan to bring Dharma on track

Back-to-back flops forced Karan Johar to split his ownership in Dharma Productions with Adar Poonawalla. He is trying hard to bring Dharma back on track. He had high hopes from movies like Kesari Chapter 2 or Good Newz and many others but none of these movies have worked.

But Kartik Aaryan is working at the box office. His Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 was a big hit. Although Chandu Champion was not a blockbuster, it earned him great reviews and appreciation. That forced Karan Johar to mend his ways with this outsider who is now playing the male lead in the upcoming two films of Dharma Productions.