In a significant consolidation move within India's entertainment industry, the renowned film production house Dharma Productions has taken full control of its talent management venture. On 16 December 2025, the company, owned by Karan Johar and Adar Poonawalla, announced the acquisition of Cornerstone's stake in the Dharma Cornerstone Agency (DCA).
A New Chapter: The Birth of Dharma Collab Artists Agency
Following the acquisition, the talent firm is set for an ambitious expansion under a fresh identity. It will now be known as the Dharma Collab Artists Agency (DCAA). This rebranding signals a strategic shift from a traditional talent management model to a more holistic, cross-platform representation company. The official release stated that DCAA aims to represent and nurture talent not just in cinema, but across film, music, sports, digital media, and live entertainment sectors.
Leadership will remain stable to ensure continuity. Uday Singh Gauri will continue as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the new entity, while Rajeev Masand will remain its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Gauri's focus will be on building new verticals, unlocking cross-platform opportunities, and shaping DCAA into a long-term home for culturally influential personalities.
Strategic Vision: Building a Structured Creative Platform
Explaining the rationale behind the stake purchase, Dharma Productions' CEO Apoorva Mehta emphasized the company's deep-rooted connection with talent. He stated that the move is a deliberate effort to create a structured platform supporting artists across various disciplines, aiming to deepen Dharma's role in India's creative economy.
"Talent has always shaped Dharma’s identity, influencing both our creative choices and how we build for the future. With DCAA, we are creating a structured platform that supports artists across disciplines. This is a deliberate and long-term step toward deepening our role in the creative economy," Mehta said in the official announcement.
Echoing this vision, CEO Uday Singh Gauri highlighted the evolving nature of artist representation. "With DCAA, we’re building a platform that reflects the way artists work, express, and grow today. Representation now goes far beyond negotiation and visibility. It requires cultural understanding, business instinct, and the ability to move with — and ahead of — the industry," he remarked. Gauri added that the focus would be on developing long-term careers across multiple formats, creating meaningful pathways between talent and opportunity.
Star-Studded Roster and Future Implications
The agency boasts an impressive client list that includes some of the biggest names in Indian entertainment and digital culture. Artists represented by DCAA span across sectors and include:
- Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Sara Ali Khan, Disha Patani, Rasha Thadani
- Aditya Roy Kapur, Harshvardhan Rane, Lakshya, Rohit Saraf
- Singers Neeti Mohan and Jonita Gandhi
- Digital influencers and personalities like Orry, Sumukhi Suresh, Anahita Shroff, Kareema Barry, and Erika Packard
This move underscores a major trend in the Indian media landscape, where large production houses are vertically integrating to manage talent directly. By controlling representation, Dharma aims to streamline projects and collaborations across its own productions and external opportunities, thereby creating a more synergistic ecosystem. The rebranding to DCAA and the expansion into non-film sectors like sports and live entertainment clearly positions the agency as a comprehensive powerhouse for managing modern-day influencers and artists.
