Hindi
India lags behind in co-productions
PANAJI: Co-productions in making films is the norm all over the world but India appears to be lagging behind because of lack of knowledge of how such projects can be executed.
This was the general consensus at an Open Forum on ‘Exploring New Horizons: International Co-productions” organised by the IDPA and the FFSI in association with the IFFI Secretariat and the ESG.
Introducing the subject, film entrepreneur Bhuvan Lall who moderated said there had been no Indian film in the competition at Cannes since 1997. He also said co-productions was becoming the norm and a large number of films at most festivals were co-produced by persons from different countries.
Suneera Nerissa Madhok who is an advocate specialising in film and entertainment stressed the need to know the laws of the countries with which one co-produced a film. She said a single-page agreement was generally no use and one had to study the media law in India and the country of co-production. She also advised that in case of disputes, it was cheaper to go in for arbitration than protracted court cases.
She stressed the need for a unified platform to help co-productions. She said many countries gave subsidies and it was important to know about them. Issues about intellectual property should also be in place before any project is launched.
She announced that lawyers like her had set up a new organisation – EMILA – to help those in film and entertainment draw up their contracts.
Renowned filmmaker Shaji N Karun said he had made his film ‘Vanaprastham’ with finance from France, and this had helped him show it in Cannes. He was once again making a co-production, this time with France and Poland, on a film about music known as ‘Gatha’. But he stressed that all his co-productions had been with independent producers and not government or other financial institutions. He claimed that it was the first film to be shot in Panasonic and Dolby Digital.
He stressed that he had made some mistakes during his first co-production and learnt the lesson that one has to understand the conditions in the country of co-production.
Referring to overseas filmmakers coming to India to shoot, he said things had changed and India had both trained manpower and the latest technology to help those who came. But he regretted that as India did not have a Film Policy, problems like single-window clearance were not coming through.
Marian Klotz of Memento Films in France said her company was into co-productions , though its main work was to market independent films and create a new cinema. She said people with good subjects often approached her company. She said it was possible to get financing from France without having a French element. However, she said it was necessary for the subject to be good and interesting and for the project to have a strong producer.
Ravi Khamboj of Sevenseas Films of Australia said he was on the lookout for good co-production ventures with Indian filmmakers. At present he was doing a television series called ‘Namastey Good Day’ with India’s Mike Pandey in which the aim was to take Indian celebrities to Australia’s lesser known tourist spots and bring Australian celebrities to Indian tourism spots. He claimed that the film delegation from Australia to the Film Bazaar was the largest with 18 persons. There is 40 per cent subsidy for shooting in Australia. He stressed the need for India to have good line producers who could take care of filmmakers from overseas coming to India to shoot their films.
Bikash Mishra of DearCinema.com said India had signed co-productions with nine countries but this had not led to any co-productions. Most co-productions happened on a person to person level. He said the co-production section of the Film Bazaar organised at IFFI every year was a great beginning. As far Europe was concerned, co-productions were very common.
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.
