Dharma's Somen Mishra answers everything: From Homebound, Dhadak 2, Jigra to the

The year end is usually reserved for reflection But for filmmaker Karan Joharrsquos Dharma Productions casually described as the be and end all of Bollywood this is the time for redemptionAt least it seems so with the acclaim and applause for two of its theatrical releases in the last two monthmdash director Neeraj Ghaywanrsquos Homebound and filmmaker Shazia Iqbalrsquos feature debut Dhadak 2 The architect of Dharmarsquos redemption arc however is not Johar Itrsquos the man who is often dubbed as Joharrsquos right hand who continues to embody the Aaram Nagar hustle even as he inhabits a designated corner of the swanky Dharma office is the bridge between independent filmmakers and the Dharma bubble and an outsider ironicallyBut Somen Mishra hasnrsquot only helped the company that he has been working with for over seven years now claim some glory he has also resurrected his own imagemdash of the man who caused the apparent downfall of Dharma Out of the nine theatrical titles of the production house that Mishra has backed so far therersquos only been one superhitmdash Good Newwzmdash a hit in Joharrsquos directorial venture Rocky Rani Kii Prem Kahaani 2023 and a moderate success with Kesari Chapter 2 2025 Even Dhadak 2 despite critical acclaim ended its box office run at a dismal Rs 25 crore approximatelyKaran Johar right Somen Mishra has been the bridge between the hustle of Aaram Nagar and the Dharma bubble PicInstagramsomenmishraNotwithstanding its selection as Indiarsquos entry for Oscars 2026 Homebound is also only crawling at the box office In fact days after the filmrsquos release Johar was heard saying on a podcast that he would rethink about producing a film like Homebound because it might not always be profitable Unsurprisingly the filmmaker received backlash for his statement and later had to clarify that he was ldquoexceptionally proud of HomeboundrdquoldquoDharma never loses money on any film because of the kind of budgets we make the films on the kind of value we get satellite OTT music So it rarely happens that we lose money Most of the number and trade conversations that I have read online about Dharmarsquos films are all false Ive read the numbers of Dhadak 2 and Homebound Theyrsquore completely wrong They are one of the most tight budgets and very safe films for usrdquo Mishra tells usNegativity of course sells online More so if itrsquos around Dharma Productions But its isnrsquot without a reason with Joharrsquos reputation as an unrelenting godfather of star kids which isnrsquot helped by the failure of films like Naadaniyaan Sarzameen both starring Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singhrsquos son Ibrahim Ali Khan Ae Watan Mere Watan with Sara Ali Khan Jahnvi Kapoorled Mr and Mrs Mahi and her latest Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari The first three all OTT releases also had Mishra as a producerldquoGunjan Saxena The Kargil Girl on Netflix was a success for us Aap Jaisa Koi which was much appreciated starred two outsiders R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh and directed by an outsider Vivek Soni But Nadaaniyan is talked about more Negativity in news tracks more If I troll someone that will track more than if I praise someone Otherwise with so much praise for Homebound it should have translated much more in the numbers But it doesnt happen The flip side is when something lands the praise is also humongous because with Dharma you will get attention either way Initially it was difficult to understand But now I understand I also make all the directors and writers understand that when theyrsquore signing a Dharma film there will be a lot of attention on them They should be prepared for thatrdquo he saysIn that context the praise surrounding Homebound and Dhadak 2 naturally makes Mishra feel vindicated and the cherry on the top is that both the directors are not only outsiders but also those that the producer always believed in But Mishra insists its not his credit to takeI canrsquot take the whole credit for it I take some credit for it Its the directors writers and their teams who have made it happen When I joined Dharma Karans point was We do one thing great but we should also do all kinds of things because cinema keeps changing everywherersquo So people can abuse us but I know cinema is a long process Both Dhadak 2 and Homebound we started developing in 2021 On Homebound three and a half years went into writing Out of which around 10 months went into acquiring rights from the New York Times for which Basharat Peer had written the article on which our film is based Another challenge was cracking the cast But everyone on this film took a cut They knew what we were trying to do I said this wont be feasible if we dont make it in a certain budget Janhvi worked for free and even for her staff she incurred the expense All the writers took a cut Dhadak 2 and Homebound are the two of the most tightbudget Dharma films in a long time I have read some of the budget numbers online which are more than double of the actual budget But anybody who sees the film anybody who knows production will tell you what the numbers are he smilesWith Mishra the otherwise inaccessible umbrella of Johars company opened to outsider voices like never before from Ghaywan Iqbal Soni Vasan Bala Ishita Moitra the list is longBut the bridge between the two sensibilities hasnt always been smooth With him at the helm of things he is expected to not only protect the voice of the director and writer who surrender their trust in him but also the commercial interests of the company that has hired him Its surely a delicate balance For instance when Dharma decided to remake Pariyerum Perumal 2018 into Dhadak 2 it became a love story Itrsquos the Dharmafication of an anticaste filmrdquo said several of its critics online Mishra disagrees that he is ever asked to mould a film into the palatable triedandtested template of DharmaWhen we pitched Dhadak 2 it was pitched in a mainstream space because I feel its much more difficult to do caste in a mainstream space If we have to make a film for festivals then why would we take the whole route of a love story We arent forcing the same love story in Homebound because that is a friendship story But we saw a love story in Dhadak 2 In the original the female character wasnt strong But whats the purpose of making the female character strong if the bonding between the two characters is not strong So for us it was always a love story Call it by any name We wanted to go mainstream and the way to go about it was to have a love story I dont see it as Dharmafication Otherwise we would have put a love story in Jigra I donrsquot get told by Karan that these elements should be in the film but we have to be honest to what the story is There are no songs in Homebound In fact we have a film coming up where the filmmaker told us Should we put a song and I said Please dont Otherwise people will say Dharma made you do thisFighting the perception battle for Dharma online also seems to be a part of Mishras job even though he maintains I have gone quiet now Why wouldnt it be after all he is the most accessible face of the company someone the internet has been familiar with for longer than he rose the ranks in the industry from the time he used to run a popular cinema blog Fight Club featured everything from news to opinions about cinema from Mishra and others many of whom are now part of the industry He soon emerged as the daring opinionated as well as arrogant cinema guy who spared nothing and no oneNaturally people expect him to display the same attitude towards whatever is perceived wrong about his company But defending Dharma is a full time job he knowsSometimes I carry this baggage Like the other day somebody said You are not supporting Neeraj Ghaywan You made the film only to get the festival credit I said Okay You are not the first one to say that We have worked hard for four years And how much support did the filmmaker get You ask him But I know you cant fight what people are saying Do your job because whatever you say will be misconstrued as something else Someone said You didnt promote Homebound properly If it were left to me I would have taken the cast to the village that the story is based in Had we done that we would have been told You are exploiting someones death You are greedy Only your work can speak and Dhadak 2 is the best example Since the day we announced it my closest friends would tell me Didnt you get any other film to remake When they saw the film they were very moved by it They said they were proven wrong about itMishra insists his boss gives him a free hand and this implicit faith is built on the initial successes that the former brought to the company even if Johar never asked for blockbusters from the producer ldquoThatrsquos the pressure I put on myself My first few projects Good Newwz Lust Stories Gunjan Saxena and Shershaah worked So the moment you initially come and deliver success the company and the bosses will trust you You think Okay my job is done the money thing is done What else can I do either get good directors or different voicesBut faith can also create fear of failure and questions like What will happen to my position in the company if the failure is too bigrsquo Like a Jigra Fronted by Dharmas current biggest inhouse star Alia Bhatt the Vasan Baladirected action drama tanked at the box officeldquoWith success it helps you to do more things With failure which I have learnt from Karan you move on to the next Get your learning and move on because you cant do anything about it I know if it had landed well it would have opened the door for Vasan for more filmmakers and more things on a certain budget and scale I still like the film very much Vasans craft is one of the best in terms of the staging and performances And Alia has put her soul into that film But even after that there was so much conversation and dissection that happened There is no point in doing so muchrdquoBut does it mean Dharma wonrsquot give another chance to Vasan we ask him ldquoNo I canrsquot say but there have been conversations with Vasan about what to do and what not to do in future I feel some of the people who have made flop films have gone on to make great films also The learning is what and why it didnrsquot connect with people But I dont have any fear about what happens to me in the face of a failure because people here are smart enough to know why a project failed Also people can see the honesty and integrity in the work Films might not connect for various reasons And 9095 percent of the time either good or bad we know it before that We might say whatever we say but Karan me us we know Mishra tells us So did they know that Jigra wouldnt workldquoJigra had a certain cinematic thing which people have to buy into Those who buy the second half will buy the film Those who cant buy the second half will not buy the film which we all of course felt bad about But Alia had done Raazi why would she do another thriller People said this or that should have happened in the film For me the highlight was that 40minute action sequence A lot of people might not like that or might get thrown off by that But for me that was the highlight Those were the concerns that if people like it then it will land If people dont get into that it wont landrdquoHits and flops aside Mishra is here for a larger cause he emphasises Which is to open doors for people like how they were opened for himmdash a man with no connection to the movies and also the city I remember Nikhil Mehrotra whom we got to write Gunjan Saxena jokingly told me lsquoYahan per toh darwaze hi itne bade hainrsquo So I said lsquoDonrsquot worry I am here Talk to mersquo My idea is to make people feel safe We arenrsquot mafia we are good people We are good to writers and directors No one gives so much izzat to them as much we dordquo And money ldquoThat too ask anyone A writer told me lsquoI got a call from Dharma asking me to send them my invoice It has never happened before with merdquoAnd what about him Is he still angry and arrogant Mishra laughs out loud I was never arrogant Online what you write people read it in a different tone Like someone asked a question and I replied This is such a dumb question so this person said You are calling me dumb But I dont think I was ever arrogant Also because of the blog there was a persona that people believed But online you create a character When people meet me they say You are much nicer than what you are online