Hindi
Entries invited for NFDC script lab and We Care Film Fest
NEW DELHI: Entries have been invited by the National Film Development Corporation for its script lab and by several Indian film festivals for entries in their respective events being held both this year and the next year.
In its second year, the National script Lab is a long-running script development lab for Indian writers wanting to build and develop screenplays with three residential workshops over five months supported by interim feedback and work via Skype.
Internationally acclaimed mentors will help up to nine selected writers through carefully staged development to prepare their scripts for introduction to the market in India and the rest of the world for financing and co-production.
This year the special focus is on children and youth films. However, the lab will offer places to all genres of film, not exclusively to just children and youth screenplays. Entries with an application fee of Rs 2000 have to be sent by 1 September. Complete applications are to be sent to labs@nfdcindia.com with the first 20 pages of the script along with the application form.
Meanwhile, the country’s first film festival on disability recognized by the United Nations; the We Care Film Fest has invited entries of short films and documentaries in four categories: up to one minute, five minutes, 30 and 60 minutes respectively from across the globe on various disability issues.
The festival is also organising a conference, which will be held from 24 to 26 November, at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
The event is being organised jointly by UNESCO, the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan, the Department of Disability Affairs, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, the National Trust, the NGO Brotherhood and the We Care film fest.
The screening of short films and documentaries will follow panel discussion, sharing of success stories by using audio-visual as information, communication and advocacy tools. Though, the last date of submission of short films and documentaries for the We Care Film Fest is 12 December, films received till 31 October on the theme of the conference and on other disability issues will be screened during the conference. The preview committee will select the short films and documentaries for screening.
The third Delhi International Film Festival being held from 20 to 27 December has called for entries by 30 September for full length feature, short films, NRI films, green films (environmental and wild life), student films, animation films, and documentaries. The festival will be held in collaboration with the New Delhi Municipal Committee and Delhi Tourism in Delhi. Details are available on info@delhiinternationalfilmfestival.com and the website: www.delhiinternationalfilmfestival.com
Meanwhile, the Centre for Media Studies Environment has called for entries to its annual eighth edition of CMS Vatavaran: Environment and Wildlife Film Festival and Forum. Films produced on or after 1 January 2015 are accepted in the CMS VATAVARAN 2015 film festival scheduled from 9 to 12 October 2015 at New Delhi. The entry form and guidelines can be downloaded from our website www.cmsvatavaran.org.
Hindi
GUEST COLUMN: Why film libraries & IPs are the new engines of growth
Unlocking value through catalogue strength and IP synergy
MUMBAI:In a media landscape defined by fragmentation, platform proliferation, and ever-evolving audience behavior, the economics of filmmaking are undergoing a fundamental shift. No longer confined to box office performance, a film’s true value is now measured across an extended lifecycle that spans digital platforms, syndication networks, and global markets. As content consumption becomes increasingly non-linear and algorithm-driven, film libraries and intellectual properties (IPs) are emerging as strategic assets, capable of delivering sustained, long-term returns. For Mohan Gopinath, head – bollywood business at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., this transformation signals a decisive move from hit-driven models to portfolio-led value creation. In this piece, Gopinath explores how legacy content, when intelligently repurposed and distributed, can unlock recurring revenue streams, why the interplay between catalogue and original IP is critical, and how media companies can build resilient, future-ready entertainment businesses.
For all these years, we thought that a film is successful if it performs well in theatres. There are opening weekend numbers, box office milestones, and distribution footprints that gave a good picture of how the movie has done commercially and also tell us about its cultural impact. However, there are multiple platforms today, always-on content ecosystem, which has caused a shift. Today, the theatrical performance is not the culmination of a film’s journey but merely the beginning of a much longer and more dynamic lifecycle.
Film libraries today are emerging as high-value, constantly evolving assets that deliver sustained returns well beyond initial release cycles. This becomes a point of great advantage for legacy content owners with diverse catalogues, to shape long-term business outcomes.
According to FICCI-EY, the media and entertainment industry of India achieved a valuation of Rs 2.78 trillion in 2025 which is expected to reach Rs 3.3 trillion by 2028 through a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7 per cent and digital media will bring in more than Rs 1 trillion to become the biggest sector which generates about 36 per cent of overall market revenues.
This shift is the expansion of distribution endpoints. We know how satellite television was once the primary secondary window but today, it coexists with YouTube, OTT platforms, Connected TV, and FAST channels. Each of these platforms caters to distinct audience demographics and consumption behaviors, helping content owners to obtain more value from the same asset across multiple formats.
For instance, films that had great reruns, now find continuous engagement across digital platforms. On YouTube, classic Hindi cinema continues to attract significant viewership, reaching audiences across generations and geographies with remarkable consistency. At Shemaroo Entertainment, this is reflected in our film library shaped over decades as part of a long association with Indian entertainment. From classics such as Amar Akbar Anthony to much-loved entertainers like Jab We Met, Welcome, Dhamaal, Phir Hera Pheri, Dhol, Golmaal, and Bhagam Bhag, many of these titles continue finding new audiences while retaining their place in popular memory. Their enduring appeal reflects how culturally resonant stories can continue creating value over time. Similarly, FAST channels have created curated, always-on environments where catalogue content can continue to thrive through star-led and genre-based programming.
This multi-platform approach has very well transformed films into long-tail IP assets which are capable of generating recurring revenue across advertising, subscription, and syndication models.
The evolution of audience behavior is equally important. Nowadays, it’s more important to find what’s more relative than what’s recent as viewers are more influenced by mood, memories, and algorithmic suggestions than by release schedules. Even if a movie was released decades ago, it can trend alongside a newly released movie, if surfaced in the right context. Thoughtful packaging, whether through festival-based playlists, actor-driven collections, or genre clusters, allows catalogue content to remain dynamic and continuously discoverable. Shemaroo Entertainment has built extensive film libraries over decades and its focus has mostly been on recontextualizing content for the consumption of newer environments. This process doesn’t just include digitization and restoration, but also re-packaging of films as per platforms.
Syndication itself has evolved into a key growth driver. In perspective, when looking at the domestic market, curated content packages continue to find strong demand across broadcast and digital platforms. Meanwhile, in the international market, especially in markets like Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia, the appetite for Indian content is opening up new monetization avenues. Here, the ability to package and position catalogue content effectively becomes as important as the content itself.
Importantly, the need to re-package catalogue content does not diminish the role of new content. In fact, originals and fresh IP are essential to sustaining the long-term value of a film library because they act as discovery engines that bring audiences into the ecosystem, while catalogue content drives depth, retention, and repeat engagement.
This interplay between the “new” and the “known” is what defines a robust content strategy today. While new films generate spikes in consumption, catalogue titles offer familiarity and comfort. These are factors that are increasingly valuable in an era of content abundance and decision fatigue. This is also shaping our strategy, drawing value from both a deep catalogue assets and a growing focus on original IPs to strengthen long-term audience engagement and build more predictable revenue streams.
There is growing recognition that long-term value in entertainment will be shaped not only by how intelligently existing content continues to live, travel and find relevance, but also by how consistently new stories are created to renew that ecosystem. In that sense, film libraries and original IP are not parallel bets, but reinforcing engines of growth. For media companies, the opportunity lies in making these two forces work together, because that is increasingly where more resilient and predictable businesses are being shaped.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
