Entertainment - UTV exits home entertainment for Moser Baer

MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has decided to exit the home entertainment business and focus only on theatrical distribution. It, on Tuesday, announced
that Moser Baer will have an exclusive home video licence for UTV’s 25 films for the next five years. The estimated size of the deal stands at Rs 25 crore.

Moser Baer plans to release 15 films from the UTV stable in the next six months. Six of them will be released in December and January. They are A Wednesday, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Welcome to Sajjanpur, Fashion, Kismat Konnection and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.

The list of other films to be released by Moser Baer includes Fashion, Swades, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Life in a Metro and Aamir. “Moser Baer’s entertainment business is working towards the consolidation of the home video space in India. Our strategy is based on the twin pillars of affordable prices to curb piracy and everywhere distribution to drive mass consumption.

In recent times, UTV has emerged as one of the leading studios in the country and its home video titles add lustre to our product line. In less than two years we have emerged as the leading player in the home video business, with over 10,000 titles in all Indian languages.

The objective is to provide new and premium content at regular intervals at delightful prices. We want our consumers to watch original and quality films rather than pirated products,” said Moser Baer Entertainment CEO Harish Dayani.

UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur said: “In terms of distribution, we prefer to license out our music and home video rights. Our focus is on content creation, aggregation and distribution.

Also, when it comes to managing multiple revenue streams, there are some revenue streams that you would like to de-risk and monetise upfront. Music and home video come under that category.”

He added that UTV’s strength did not lie in the retail business, which is key to the home video business. “The home video business in India is growing significantly and with the kind of revenue potential it has it can no longer be seen as just another ancillary revenue stream.