India’s top vaccine maker has bought a 50% stake in a major Bollywood production business known for making popular films.

Adar Poonawalla’s Serene Production will invest 10bn rupees ($119m; £91.3m) in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment, his business said.

Poonawalla also heads the Serum Institute of India (SII), the globe’s largest vaccine maker by number of doses, which produced millions of Covid-19 shots for India and many other countries during the pandemic.

Poonawalla’s property in the entertainment business is a significant shift at a period when Bollywood is struggling to overcome lean times since the Covid-19 pandemic shut cinemas.

The industry is also facing competition from dozens of local and global streaming platforms in India.

“I am delighted to have the chance to associate with one of the most iconic production houses in our country, along with my partner Karan Johar,” Poonawalla said in a press release. “We aspiration to construct and develop Dharma and scale even greater heights in the years to arrive.”

Johar is one of India’s top producers and directors who is also known for his popular TV shows. His four-decades-ancient production house has produced iconic movies such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, featuring top star Shah Rukh Khan.

But in recent years, many of the films made by the production house have failed to generate thrill at the box office.

Earlier reports had said that Johar was in talks with India’s top conglomerates Reliance and RPSG, which owns music label Saregama, to invest in his firm.

Commenting on the collaboration in which he will retain a 50% stake, Johar said, “This collaboration represents a perfect blend of our emotional storytelling prowess and forward-thinking business strategies.”

“This collaboration opens up a globe of possibilities for creating content that will resonate across borders and generations,” he said.