Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
Cost pressures get studios to eye wins in regional cinema
Studios and filmmakers in the Hindi film industry are turning to regional cinema due to rising costs, unpredictable box office, and limited OTT buyers.
New Delhi: Grappling with rising costs of production, unpredictable box office and few buyers in the OTT ecosystem, studios and filmmakers who were primarily operational in the Hindi language, are gradually looking at regional cinema. While music label and production house Tips has backed a Marathi film, Yoodlee, the content studio owned by Saregama, is bringing out projects in Punjabi and Malayalam. Bigger companies like Jio Studios, too, have aggressive regional movie plans. These films are more cost-effective to put together, preferred by streaming platforms who are aggressive about local language content libraries and stars in these regions are popular without commanding astronomical sums.
“OTT is a very new space and will go through its share of ups and downs. We’re an agile production house and need a stable and predictable business where we don’t need to pitch to anyone else to keep going. The theatrical model comes with low risk in this case and it has been a measured move on our part to diversify,” Siddharth Anand Kumar, senior vice president of films and events at Saregama India, which owns Yoodlee Films, said.
Kumar Taurani, MD-TIPS Industries, said regional films are gaining significant mome-ntum, and there’s a growing demand for diverse content. “Over the next one to two years, we plan to produce six to seven movies, maintaining a balanced ratio of 50% in Hindi and 50% in regional languages. Within the next 2-3 years, our goal is to increase our film production to 10-12 projects, maintaining the same 50-50 split between Hindi and regional films,” he said. To be sure, things are tough for content creators both in the Hindi theatrical space and the OTT ecosystem.
While the box office remains unpredictable, with even big star films finding limited appeal, streaming platforms are facing pressures on profitability, impacting their bullishness and spends in the country, which has led to a slowdown in commissioning and green-lighting decisions. On the music front, labels have seen film soundtrack acquisition costs spike by 5-8 times over the past two years. Filmmakers who feel audio streaming is bringing significant returns for music companies are demanding massively higher rates, even as Hindi film music gains little traction and the number of songs per film has fallen.
“The returns on investment are very attractive for regional cinema. A film made for less than ₹5 crore can end up making ₹50 crore at the box office. Seventy to eighty per cent of the business is secured before release. So there is nothing to lose,” said Yusuf Shaikh, business head of feature films at production and distribution firm Percept Pictures. He referred to profitable films like Baipan Bhaari Deva (Marathi) and Carry On Jatta 3 (Punjabi) that broke out last year.
Catch all the Industry News, Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:30 Jan 2024, 11:20 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High