Hindi
Women filmfests to showcase varied talent and themes
NEW DELHI: Two film festivals being held in the capital to coincide with the International Women’s Day exhibit how women filmmakers add their own unique sensitivity to the subjects they pick up.
Sixteen films by the renowned filmmaker Lavlin Thadani on issues relating to women and around 25 films from five countries by Asian women on the theme of ‘Insights and Aspirations’ are to be shown in the two festivals. The second festival has been organized by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT).
While one festival is dealing with subjects like female foeticide, the girl child, treating some women as witches, others burnt on the pyres of their husbands and so on, the other has varied subjects like the politically sensitive communal relations, social issues like the search for a suitable groom, or a historical on the famed singing saint Kabir.
The films by Thadani’s Muskan Productions are all short features which have been or to be screened on Doordarshan and have been made as commissioned programmes for the public service broadcaster. The festival commenced on 5 March and will continue till 8 March at the India Habitat Centre.
Thadani told indiantelevision.com that all the films were ‘films of hope’ and had been inspired by media reports. She admitted in reply to a question that it was often the elder women who were responsible for the atrocities on younger women, but said this was because of years of conditioning.
The IAWRT festival is being held in collaboration with the India International Centre Asia Project and UNESCO on 7 and 8 March and will feature short and full-length and animation films from Australia, Japan, Pakistan, and the United States besides India. IIC Asia-project and IAWRT will use this forum for short films dedicated to genres across animation, fiction and documentary film.
Filmmakers like Paromita Vohra who will also have a presentation on how she makes films, Dhvani Desai who uses a dying folk form to make an animation film, and Rajula Shah who explores the greatness of the 14th Century mystic Kabir, are among the filmmakers who will be present during the two-day meet.
The theme of the Fourth IAWRT Women’s Film Festival this year is ‘Insights and Aspirations’. The aim is to open up a space for debates on creative processes and concerns, Jai Chandiram who is Managing Trustee of the IAWRT told indiantelevision.com.
Chandiram said recognizing the critical need for a forum that can sustain the form of documentary as well as women’s contribution to this unique form, the festival is showcasing documentary films created by women, covering a range of genres and expressive styles. It presents films that explore and reflect on how women filmmakers negotiate, resist or document political, social, cultural, environmental, educational or economic issues.
Panel discussions to be held along with the festival will examine whether women are creating a new language of filmmaking, which reflects, and explores new politics of filmmaking, and how women are widening the frame for issues concerning women.
The IAWRT Women’s Festival has in the past traveled to many cities in India .The last festival had screenings in Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune and Madurai.
The earlier three IAWRT festivals were on the themes of ‘Expressions in Freedom’, ‘Women, Media and Society: Transformations’, and ‘Reflections: Women Imaging Realities.’
The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) is a non–profit professional organization of women working in electronic and allied media. The IAWRT is a non-government organization (NGO), in consultative status with United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
IAWRT seeks to ensure women’s views and values become an integral part of programme making. It offers professional skill-training to women. It provides grants and fellowships, and presents awards of excellence. It helps members share inputs by organizing workshops and festivals round the world.
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.
