T-Series Enters the OTT Arena with Biopics, Originals, and Direct-to-OTT Releases
T-Series, India’s largest music label, plans to enter the over-the-top (OTT) content industry this year, with the goal of producing 3-4 long-form web originals every year. The company, which began producing films a few years ago, has a biography in the works about choreographer Saroj Khan and has purchased the rights to a book on VG Siddhartha, the creator of Café Coffee Day. It has also begun production on a show with filmmaker Hansal Mehta, and a show for Disney+Hotstar has been completed and will be released later this year. Given that most theatre releases have received negative feedback from audiences, T-Series plans to distribute 4-5 direct-to-OTT films per year.
“OTT platforms have emerged in a big way since the beginning of covid, and most people rely on them for a daily dose of content.” “As a content provider, we cannot afford to pass up the opportunity to cater to that consumer base,” Shiv Chanana, Senior Vice President, films at Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd, which owns T-Series, said in an interview. The company has five shows in various stages of development and is working on platform commissioned series as well as selling content ideas to OTT services.
Budgets for the content might range between Rs.20 crore and Rs.100 crore, according to Chanana. While experimenting with genres such as comedy, thriller, and biopics, the company is also leveraging its core strength to create a full-fledged musical for Amazon Prime Video, he noted. According to OTT players’ plans, these shows will be shot primarily in Hindi and then dubbed in different languages.
According to Chanana, it takes at least one and a half to two years to conceive, shoot, and put together a performance, which is why the firm is aiming for four originals every year, though this number may increase with time. “Music and film are both important to us.”
However, because theatregoers react differently to new content, we’re trying to focus on what works best and not rush into anything. We were looking at 15-20 pictures every year previously, but now we’re looking at 10-12 theatre releases.” With recent T-Series movies such as Shehzada, An Action Hero, and Vikram Vedha failing to bring audiences to theatres, the company has decided to focus on direct-to-OTT releases in genres such as horror, comedy, and thriller that may not be suitable for large screens. Every year, the business will release four to five of them across streaming platforms. T-Series’ action coincides with OTT platforms’ cost-cutting strategies, such as decreasing content expenditures in the face of increased piracy and muted subscriber growth, which are impacting revenue.
