Film Production
Mumbai Film City hikes rental rates, IFTPC to approach Maha govt
Mumbai: Producers of films and TV shows in Mumbai’s Film City received a jolt earlier this month. The Maharashtra Film Stage and Cultural Development Corp (MFSCDC) – which is in charge of the Goregaon-based facility – issued a circular stating that it had revised rentals of studios and outdoor locations on its premises from 1 July.
Some of the large indoor stages including Studio 16 (14,060 sq ft), Studio 7 (10,400 sq ft), Studio 5 (8455 sq ft) and Studio 11 have been seen rate hikes of a massive 53 per cent, 38 per cent, 26 per cent and 29 per cent. Ditto with outdoor locations such as Vishnu Maidan 1 (83,250 sq ft: 87 per cent jump), Josh Maidan 1-2 (1,40,000 sq ft: 57 per cent), Gate No. 1 to Adlab Road/Bus Stop (90,000 sq ft: 102 per cent ), Link Road – 1 (77 per cent) and Link Road – 2 (89 per cent).
This has got the production community’s goose. The Indian Film & Television Producers Council (IFTPC ) – the producers association which has been at the forefront of workers and government negotiations – is currently gathering data from its producer members to present to the Maharashtra deputy chief minister or chief minister on how the hike is going to impact production of TV series in Hindi, Marathi and other languages.
Says IFTPC CEO Suresh Amin: “TV producers are really worried. This kind of rate hike has not happened in the last seven to eight years. TV producers have been faced with reduced or stagnant production budgets over the past two or three years even as they had to invest more to put in place increased Covid protection measures which were quite expensive. The current rate hike will only lead to making producing at Film City unviable as we are unsure whether broadcasters will be supportive and absorb the increased costs.”
“Most TV productions happen in Film City, Goregaon and TV serials shooting takes place 365 days a year,” he adds. “Meanwhile, a film shoot will happen for a maximum of 100 days using different outdoor locations that are largely unaffected by the rate change.”
Some of the popular TV shows currently being filmed at FilmCity include Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and India’s Laughter Champion.
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Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
