Mukesh Ambani plans big, new move involves Laapataa Ladies, Article 370 and…, aims to become…
Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, owns highly-successful businesses ranging from oil, green energy, telecom to retail, media and entertainment. But now the billionaire tycoon has set his sights on something arguably more ambitious; carve a unique niche for Indian entertainment content in Hollywood via his Jio Studios– the country’s largest content studio.
Mukesh Ambani plans Hollywood takeover
Last year, three films produced by Jio Studios– Laapataa Ladies, Article 370, and Shaitaan– were ranked on the top 10 global charts of Netflix, proof that Indian content now resonates beyond the diaspora audience across continents. Laapataa Ladies, which secured an Oscar nomination, was watched in more than 43 countries.
However, Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Studios has bigger ambitions; it aims to emerge as a prominent international studio in the next five years, and rub shoulders with Hollywood powerhouses like Paramount, Walt Disney, Peacock, Lionsgate, and MGM.
“Today, we are nowhere near Hollywood or even Korea. Somebody needs to take control and start. I want to use the Reliance heft to take Indian stories to the world,” Jyoti Deshpande, President (Media and Content Business), Reliance Industries, was quoted as saying by Fortune India.
Deshpande revealed that the studios’ ambitious expansion plan involves a “combination of organic and inorganic collaborations”, and one of the key goals to separate India rights and overseas rights, then hire a sales agent in key markets, in North America, Europe, and Australia.
“Currently, a digital platform takes away global rights, which limits international distribution country by country. We will then try to work that film from a Berlin or a Cannes, get a sales agent, and sell North America, Germany, France, and other parts of Europe—around 100-135 countries,” Deshpande told Fortune India.
Jio Studios to build franchises
Jio Studios will then try to give the movie a theatre release, and also later air it on local streaming services and TV channels in those markets. “If I do this with a set of films, then our stories will start opening up into those markets.”
Deshpande agrees that an expansion of this scale involves significant risk, but asserts that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is up to the challenge. “Today, we are talking about India to the world. How can you make it happen by doing business the way we are currently doing? One will have to take significant risks, invest in the right stories that can travel, and take on international partners. I will be looking at co-producing some films internationally as well as inviting some international co-producers into my slate.”
Additionally, Jyoti Deshpande wants to build global franchises of Jio Studios’ titles and make them a part of pop culture, akin to what Hollywood does with its popular franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Matrix, Lord of The Rings, to name a few.
“We are already building franchises around Stree, Thama, Bhediya, and Munjya. We are also doing Mahaavatar, which is the story of Parasuram. This will be a big budget behemoth, and it will introduce characters,” Deshpande states.
News