Hindi
NFDC to get Rs 300 mn boost from MIB; Om Puri joins as chairman
MUMBAI: National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) has been allocated a sum of Rs 300 million for five years by the Information & Broadcasting ministry for film production and promotion of new talent.
NFDC is also ready to release four films this fiscal. While three out of these four films, namely The White Elephant, Lucky Red Seeds and Via Darjeeling, are co-productions with NDTV Imagine, Mirchi Movies, and Moxie Entertainment respectively, Bioscope is a solo production film from the NFDC stable.
Via Darjeeling, a film by Arindam Nandy, is ready to release this July. The film stars Kay Kay Menon, Parvin Dabas, Sonali Kulkarni, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sandhya Mridul and Simone Singh.
“Via Darjeeling is ready for a July release. The film will be distributed by PVR across the country,” stated NFDC MD Nina Lath Gupta.
Lucky Red Seeds, directed by Anjali Menon, is slated to release this November.
“Lucky Red Seeds represent the memories seen through the young eyes of Vicky – one of the millions of Indian children raised outside their country. The film, in Malayalam, will be released in November with English subtitles,” said NFDC production manager D. Ramakrishnan.
Bioscope, NFDC‘s solo production, has been written, scripted and directed by KM Madhusudhanan. The film depicts the inner meaning of moving images.
It is a story about Diwakaran, and what became of his very close friend, the “bioscope”. Traveling through villages, he erected tents and screened early film strips using a projector, known at that time as “bioscope”.
Both Bioscope and The White Elephant are currently under the production stage and will see a release in the latter part of the fiscal.
Additionally, NFDC will participate in the film market at the 61st Cannes festival next month to promote its new productions.
“We have entered Bioscope and Lucky Red Seeds for the festival screenings and are hoping that these two movies will be selected. The names of the shortlisted films are awaited,” said Gupta.
Also, NFDC has appointed film actor Om Puri as their new chairman. The actor assumed his new role from 4 April ‘08 onwards for a period of 3 years.
The appointment has been made after a gap of almost one year when film distributor and financier Manmohan Shetty resigned from the post.
Talking about his plans Om Puri stated that he will encourage and promote young film makers who have the potential of making a good film which is rich in content. NFDC will recognize young talent with interesting projects and help them produce films.
He also wants to promote various workshops like in the area of script writing and screen play as deserving talent can be tapped.
Furthermore, Om Puri also plans to introduce an effective concept called “cooperatives”. In this model if the script or the film demands established and famous actors, a unanimous arrangement will be reached between NFDC as a production house and the cast and crew of a particular film. After deciding on the script, NFDC will approach them with an offer to work in the film on a subsidised fee.
If the film becomes a success in the box office, the profit garnered will be shared with all those who are involved in the project. The idea behind this concept is to give boost to film makers with experiential and viable scripts but limited budgets. This proposal will help procure prominent talents for small budget films.
Earlier, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee and film director Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Bollywood actor Hema Malini had served as chairman of NFDC.
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.
