In what would be a major setback for filmmakers in the country, Disney India is reportedly going to stop producing desi films. A report in the Economic Times says that Disney India, which owns UTV Motion Pictures, has decided to completely focus on its Hollywood films distribution, television, licensing and merchandising platforms.
It is unfortunate that Disney has decided to pull the plug on the Hindi film production business, which UTV was known and respected for. But in the current scenario, it is unviable and loss making. I hope we will revive this business in the future.A Highly Placed Source in Disney India (Economic Times)
While the reasons for Disney’s exit from the production of Bollywood films is not officially known, it could well be the disastorous box-office performance of its two big budget films this year - Fitoor and Mohenjo Daro.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood has a small but growing share in the Indian film market. In 2015, the top 10 Hollywood releases apparently grossed around $98 million at the box office, which is an increase by nearly 34% compared to $64.7 million in 2014.
This is the highest-ever annual increase, and Disney might be wanting to focus on increasing that share rather than spending on loss-making ventures in Bollywood.
There have already been reports of Siddharth Roy Kapur, the Managing Director of Disney India, not renewing his contract with the company after it expires by the end of this year and that a search is on to find a replacement for Siddharth.
While there have been rumours that Siddharth would be joining his former boss Ronnie Screwvala who has opened a film production house by the name of RSVP, Ronnie himself has denied this. There are also other reports which suggest that Siddharth may open his own film studio backed by Karan Johar.
(Source: Economic Times)
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