Hindi
Balaji to scale up film biz with Rs 1.5 bn investment
MUMBAI: For movie production houses, the bet has to be on bigger budgets. Balaji Motion Pictures Limited (BMPL), the film production arm of Balaji Telefilms, is investing Rs 1.5 billion in six movie projects as it attempts to scale up the business after a string of box office successes from small-to-medium budget films.
This marks a significant shift in strategy and signals the company‘s appetite to take bigger risks in a game that is being increasingly dominated by studios who work on a wider slate of productions and releases.
BMPL has lined up a slate of six films for the upcoming year which includes co-production with filmmakers like Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap and Sanjay Gupta, alongside sequels to Balaji’s own successful properties such as Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai and Ragini MMS.
The company led by its promoter Ekta Kapoor will release five films in the next fiscal. It had released only one film namely Kya Super Kool Hain Hum in the current fiscal which had net box office collections of approximately Rs 220 million over the first weekend.
Its most recent success at the box office was in the form of biographical drama The Dirty Picture that breached the Rs 1 billion mark. The film that was inspired by the life of Silk Smitha was made on a budget of Rs 180 million.
Similarly, Ragini MMS, built on a meagre budget of Rs 10.3 million, went on to collect Rs 70 million at the box office. Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and Love Sex Aur Dhokha also had successful runs at the box office.
BMPL had posted a net profit of Rs 35.99 million on revenues of Rs 241.2 million during the second quarter of the current fiscal.
BMPL CEO Tanuj Garg said, “We have put together a strong line-up with a lot of variety. The significant ramp-up in our slate demonstrates the seriousness and passion with which we are growing the movie business. We believe that an equal focus on co-productions and acquired properties is not only a financially prudent approach for us but should also accelerate our growth momentum. We’re pleased to be the only entity with market dominance in television and films alike.”
Garg said that all the movies except Ragini MMS is in advanced stage of productions. However, it is yet to close any satellite rights for its films.
The first to release on 18 April is Ek Thi Daayan, a co-production with Vishal Bhardwaj and directed by debutant Kannan Iyer. The super-natural thriller is top-lined by Emraan Hashmi, Huma Qureshi, Kalki Koechlin and Konkona Sen Sharma, and marks the coming together of Vishal Bhardwaj and Emraan Hashmi for the first time.
Releasing on 1 May is the multi-starrer Shootout at Wadala, a co-production with Sanjay Gupta. The industry’s first prequel (to Shootout At Lokhandwala) stars Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Kangana Ranaut, Tusshar, Manoj Bajpai, Sonu Sood, Ronit Roy, and many other big names, to be announced shortly.
To release on 7 June is Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi, a co-production with Bejoy Nambiar. The quirky Delhi-based comedy launching young talents is directed by noted ad film-maker Aman Sachdeva making his film directorial debut.
On 5 July is Lootera, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane of the critically acclaimed Udaan fame. The epic period love story marks the first-time pairing of Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha. Lootera is a co-production with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl of Phantom Films.
The Milan Luthria-directed Once Upon A Time In Mumbai-2 is the banner’s tentpole Eid release scheduled for 8 August. Starring Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Sonali Bendre, the romantic drama is among the most keenly awaited cinematic features of 2013.
Closing the slate for the year, will be the youth date film, Ragini MMS-2, top-lined by Sunny Leone. Directed by Bhushan Patel, the sequel to the biggest sleeper hit of 2011, Ragini MMS, will be a heady combination of thrill, horror and sensuousness. It releases on 11 October.
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.
