Hindi
“Follow your gut’, says Siddharth Roy Kapur as he shares his success mantra at IIFTC
Mumbai: In a fireside chat at the India International Film Tourism Conclave 2022, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur gave out his success mantra to a discerning audience consisting of 20 countries who had come to pitch their locations to Indian filmmakers—’Follow your gut.’
In a discussion with the South Swedish Film Commission head & European Film Commission Network co-president Mikael Svensson, Roy Kapur Films founder, MD Siddharth Roy Kapur said that he had always been in love with the story before he decided to produce it. Commenting on the occasion, he said, “When we decided to produce Rang De Basanti in 2005, many people warned us that the film may not work well, as in the ending, the cast dies, but we followed our gut. The success of the film paved the way for many more such projects and newcomers in the industry. Ronnie Screwvala backed talent whose stories we loved, irrespective of what the market or trade pundits might think.”
Answering a question by Mikael Svensson on his personal favourite film as a producer, Kapur answered, “The Last Film Show,” without batting an eyelid. Continuing the conversation, he said, “The Last Film Show is one of my favourite films as it makes the viewers fall in love with cinemas. An Indian Oscar is long overdue and all of us are keeping our fingers crossed. We Indians have a special grammar in our films, unlike others, namely the song and dance sequences. Many people might not like them, but I strongly feel that they should survive. Our country has space for both international cinema, regional cinema, and Hindi language cinema—due to the large audience size and the large Indian diaspora spread globally, whenever we start a film, it is primarily the Indian audience that we keep in mind.”
Commenting on the South Indian Film Industry, Kapur said, “The South Indian cinema is having its renaissance moment. The audiences have started accepting and appreciating such films.” On what goes behind choosing a shooting location for the film, the 48-year-old filmmaker said, “We as filmmakers, want to be true to the script and hence prefer to shoot at the actual locations as in the script. However, budget sometimes plays a role, and if we get something that may not look like a force fit but still be in our budget, then we select that location.”
Svensson also told the audience a lesser-known fact about the ex-president of the Producers Guild of India. He used to love acting in school and college and was the head of his college dramatics society. Kapur laughingly said, “Producers are acting all the time. I enjoyed acting in school and college, but being an actor professionally is different. I realised the differences early on and became a producer, as I believed it suited me more as a person.”
The evening was the second day of the three-day film tourism event, featuring over 50 international companies from over 20 countries coming to Bollywood, Mumbai to woo Indian filmmakers. The event saw participation from countries including Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi, Krakow, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Norway, Oman, Panama, Poland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Yas Island, to name a few.
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.
