Corporates get a bigger role in bollywood

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Top bollywood production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) is releasing an unprecedented five films in 2008 across genres (thriller, comedy, romance and animation), starring some of the top actors and directors. The number is still small compared to UTV Motion Pictures’ 18-20 films slated for release this year or The Indian Film Company’s 12-13 films. But the very fact that YRF is scaling up its production of movies is indicative of the changes sweeping across Bollywood. Between the three of them, they will produce some of the most awaited releases of the year like Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi starring Shah Rukh Khan, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Dilli 6, Akshay Kumar in Singh is Kinng and the Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini.

“YRF has scaled up its operations recently and the studio model that was embarked upon a couple of years ago is firmly in place. YRF takes prides in being part of every step of the value chain of a film from its conception to its delivery,” says Sanjeev Kohli, director and CEO, Yash Raj Films.

The seeds of corporatisation that were sown a couple of years ago are finally bearing fruit and most of the top players (read Reliance Entertainment, UTV, Eros International and TIFC) now want to be on all sides of the spectrum: Production, distribution and exhibition. Having said that, there are no set rules of corporatisation in the film industry and most of the players admit that “Bollywood is not all there yet”.

Some corporates, including the Singhanias and the Birlas have learnt it the hard way. For instance, according to analysts after producing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black, Aditya Birla Group’s Applause Entertainment lost its way somewhat and is now reorganising its strategy to move forward.

But still, there’s ample reason for big corporates to knock on Bollywood’s doors and walk in.

Consider this: The Indian film industry, with over 3 billion admissions per annum, is the largest in the world. The industry, which is currently worth $2.9 billion as per estimates, is slated to grow at a CAGR of 16%.