iWorld
Lionsgate Play bets on AI and originals to build a Rs 1,000 crore IP empire in India
After a management buyout, Rohit Jain is turning a distribution-focused streamer into a full-stack entertainment company
MUMBAI: Lionsgate Play has a new owner, a bold target, and a point to prove. The streaming platform, which recently completed a management-led buyout from its parent Lionsgate, is targeting the creation of at least Rs 1,000 crore worth of intellectual property over the next few years, sharpening its India ambitions with a push into premium originals, AI-led production, and multi-platform monetisation. The man now firmly in charge is Rohit Jain, long-time executive turned founder, who says the shift to an independent structure will allow the company to move faster than global ownership ever permitted.
The numbers from the recent past are sobering but improving. According to Tofler data, Lions Gate Play LLP reported a 57 per cent decline in net loss to Rs 26 crore in FY25, though operating revenue slipped more than 7 per cent to Rs 75 crore. Over the years, Lionsgate had invested an estimated $100 million in its streaming operations across India and Southeast Asia. Under a multi-year agreement, Lionsgate will continue licensing the Lionsgate Play brand and provide access to its film and television catalogue, while retaining its separate film and television distribution business across India and Southeast Asia.
The strategic pivot is sweeping. Lionsgate Play plans to more than double its annual movie slate from around 50 to 60 films last year to over 100 titles this year. Content from Lionsgate Studios, the company is at pains to clarify, forms only a small part of its catalogue, with programming sourced from ITV, BBC, Millennium Media, AGC Studios, and other global houses. Indian originals, paused last year amid shifting global priorities, are back on the table, with fresh investments in Hindi films and regional cinema including Tamil and Telugu content.
Jain, whose role has evolved from running operations to overseeing long-term investment decisions, is candid about what has changed. “Some things have changed, some haven’t, and some will now accelerate,” he told the Economic Times. “We reached a point where business priorities and shareholder priorities were different, and both perspectives were valid in their own way.” He acknowledged that streaming remains capital-intensive with long gestation periods but indicated no immediate plans to raise external funding.
At the heart of the new strategy is a plan to build what Jain calls a deeply IP-led, multi-platform company, monetising content across streaming, theatrical releases, television, YouTube, gaming, and other formats. “We’re gradually transforming into a deeply IP-led, multi-platform company,” he said. The company has already built its entire technology stack in-house and is now developing an AI-led studio and production workflow, framing artificial intelligence as a tool that democratises production budgets rather than displacing creative talent. “AI is not going to replace anything. It will become an extension of the existing ecosystem,” Jain said. “What it does is allow us to tell stories that we may not otherwise have been able to tell.” Among the projects in development is a superhero universe spanning comics, films, series, and gaming, backed by four National Award-winning directors.
Lionsgate Play is not angling to go toe-to-toe with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or JioHotstar. Its target is narrower and, Jain argues, more defensible: the premium 20 to 45 age group, skewed male, with a taste for action, crime, and thriller content. The company currently has around five million paying subscribers and is targeting 15 million over time. It intends to stay subscription-focused for now, wary that advertising may undercut its premium brand positioning.
Southeast Asia is next on the expansion map, with Jain identifying it as a promising streaming market ripe for the same strategy being deployed in India.
On the broader industry, Jain has little patience for the economics of the recent past. “The phase of subsidisation is over,” he said bluntly. “The economics are now returning to what they should be. Make good cinema and make your money.”
In a streaming landscape littered with scale-at-any-cost casualties, that is either a refreshingly clear-eyed philosophy or a very high-stakes wager. Jain, now betting his own capital as well as his reputation, is clearly convinced it is the former.
