These are busy times for Percept Holdings as it plans to build a strong growth engine in the entertainment space. The company has a war chest of Rs 5 billion and 17 movie projects are in pipeline. Talks are also on with Rupert Murdoch's estranged heir Lachlan Murdoch to sell 30-40 stake in Percept Picture Company.
Murdoch has already entered into a JV to form Percept Talent Management. Percept is also looking at scaling up its sports marketing business.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das and Ashwin Pinto, Percept Holdings joint MD Shailendra Singh elaborates on his ambition to become one of the top Bollywood studios in India.
Excerpts:
Percept has identified entertainment as an important growth engine. Inside entertainment, is it mainly movies? |
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How much is Percept Picture Company (PPC) planning to invest in the venture? |
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Will Lachlan Murdoch pick up a stake to support PPC's growth plans ? |
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What is the brand of movies that PPC will be making? |
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Which is why you have made movies like Hanuman for the kids?
Our kids have been growing up on Disney and Hollywood. Is that fair? We have our own mythology, superheroes. PPC plans to come up with two animation films soon. Hanuman's sequel returns and will be released in November 2007. The second is an international film that will be released in summer 2008. |
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Have you locked up with different directors for multiple movies so that you can widen the slate of your offerings? Percept has been involved in 18 completed films that include Page 3, Corporate, Malamaal Weekly, Home Delivery, Traffic Signal and Hanuman. And the directors we have locked in for multiple movies include Nagesh Kukunoor, Priyadarshan and Madhur Bhandarkar. We lay a lot of focus on directors rather than on stars. |
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The perception in the industry is that you hijacked Sahara's movie business? |
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But Sahara was left with no contracts with directors? |
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Do you stick your neck out and make the cinema you believe in? |
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Which is why you acquired Spiderman3 to spruce up your distribution?
The decision is completely demand driven. We believe that while all other aspects of cinema like production, marketing and even exhibition have seen radical changes in recent years, the distribution business continues to be as it was and we are confident that we will be able to make a big difference in this area. The unprecedented success of Spiderman3 is proof that effective distribution can really help create super success.
Currently we have allocated well over $10 million for infrastructure development and acquisition of content for Hollywood and Bollywood distribution. We will be targeting all big Hollywood releases in the year. |
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Are you getting into home video?
The pricing today is competitive. We will keep our DVDs probably in the Rs 60 region. But our plan is to provide some value add; we will give more than a movie. And we are trying to provide a total solution. We recently bought two animation films and a South Indian film for a 360 degree distribution on all platforms. This shows that we have arrived as a brand. It is my dream that PPC will be that kind of a studio where people will see value in the knowledge that we carry as opposed to production details. |
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Are you planning to produce regional movies? |
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Since Sahara contracted you to run their entertainment business for a particular period of time, hasn't this fuelled your ambition to get into the broadcasting space? |
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Is it fair to say that on the TV content side you haven't made much progress? |
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How has the experience with Sahara One helped you capitalize on the opportunity?
The second stage was to appropriately monetise the current library. We had to clean up several film contracts that were done before we took over. We had to do a lot of fire fighting.
After that, we began a new era. We brought into our basket several films like Page Three. Sahara only lost money on Home Delivery.
We also strategically launched Filmy and we created a unique space in a market where there was already a clutter of three other Hindi movie channels (Zee Cinema, Max, Star Gold with B4U not making much impact). |
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The common opinion is that Percept gained at the cost of Sahara? The market cap of Sahara One has gone up after we took charge. Investors also came in. |
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How do you plan to make a mark in the TV content business?
To go big we need to get into formats. In India, we think of big ideas and execute small. We are trying to create formats that we can produce here and then get it exported globally. |
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Do you see a studio system emerging? Absolutely. You will have six top studios including Yash Raj Films, Adlabs, UTV and PPC. You need the muscle to play the game. Independent producers will not survive by making two films a year. Getting critical mass fast is the order of the day. |
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In the field of sports marketing, do you see any alternate emerging to cricket?
The issue is that when the World Cup debacle took place, people wondered if they should support other disciplines. Is putting all the eggs in one basket good for business? That thinking did happen. The BCCI should have had a chat with the sponsors to sort out the issues concerning the future of cricket. |
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With stars like Sachin, Saurav, Dravid and Kumble probably retiring at the same time, how will it affect money coming in from sponsors?
When we thought that Shah Rukh was God, Hritik came into the picture. Clients need to have brand consultants who will tell them that there is an age and a time to position yourselves in a certain manner. |
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Are you looking at sports marketing for other sports? |
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Why baseball? |
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What are the expansion plans for Percept Talent Management (PTM) after Lachlan Murdoch has bought a stake in the company? |
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How do you see yourself creating an entertainment empire? Will it rest on movie as the backbone? |