Dharma Productions acquires Cornerstone stake, relaunches talent agency as DCAA

MUMBAI: Dharma Productions is tightening its grip on India’s talent economy. The film studio has bought out Cornerstone’s stake in Dharma Cornerstone Agency and relaunched the venture as Dharma Collab Artists Agency (DCAA), positioning it as its exclusive platform for artist representation across film, music, sport, digital media and live experiences.

The move brings the agency fully in-house and signals a broader cultural play by Dharma, jointly owned by Karan Johar and Adar Poonawalla. DCAA will be led by Uday Singh Gauri as chief executive, with Rajeev Masand continuing as chief operating officer, providing continuity as the business scales up.

DCAA’s mandate goes well beyond film stars. The agency will focus on building multi-format careers, cross-platform deals and long-term cultural relevance for talent operating across entertainment and influence-led industries. It is a bet on convergence: cinema colliding with music, sport, creators and live culture.

Chief executive of Dharma Productions, Apoorva Mehta, said talent had always been central to the studio’s identity. DCAA, he added, was a “structured, long-term platform” designed to deepen Dharma’s role in India’s creative economy.

For Gauri, who has spent two decades working across talent management, music and live entertainment, the relaunch is about redefining representation itself.

Today’s artists, he said, need cultural intelligence, business instinct and strategic navigation, not just deals and visibility.

The agency’s roster reflects that ambition. It includes film actors such as Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Sara Ali Khan, Disha Patani, Aditya Roy Kapur, Harshvardhan Rane, Lakshya and Rohit Saraf; musicians Neeti Mohan and Jonita Gandhi; and digital and cultural voices including Orry, Sumukhi Suresh, Anahita Shroff, Kareema Barry and Erika Packard.

With DCAA, Dharma is no longer just making films. It is building an ecosystem—owning the talent pipeline, the platforms and the cultural conversation. In an industry where attention is currency, Dharma has decided not just to cast the stars, but to manage the constellations.