Balaji Telefilms banks on core mass-market
Premium- Its shows will target the Hindi heartland and also be dubbed for wider reach
NEW DELHI : Ekta Kapoor-owned content production company Balaji Telefilms is betting on its core mass-market audiences to drive growth for its digital platform ALTBalaji, for which it is launching 10-15 web originals this year.
The new shows will be focused on the Hindi heartland, though they will be dubbing in regional languages for wider reach. Five feature films will also hit screens in the next 7-10 months including Kartik Aaryan-starrer Freddy and Taapsee Pannu’s Dobaaraa. Additionally, four new TV shows are in the works taking its current library of linear television to 10, including the latest season of Naagin on Colors.
The streaming service has added 3.98 million subscriptions over the first nine months of FY22.
“Around two to three years ago, SVoD (subscription-based video-on-demand) services were not targeting mass audiences. But trends that have emerged over the pandemic, be it more OTT platforms lowering rates or original programming increasingly becoming free on AVoD (advertising-led video-on-demand) platforms, show that everyone wants a share of the small-town or rural audience pie," Nachiket Pantvaidya, group chief executive officer, Balaji Telefilms said.
Targeting the same viewer base, the platform is looking at developing shows faster while focusing on the Hindi heartland. Focus on the mass market is a phenomenon playing out in films released in theatres too, Pantvaidya said. His observation is borne out by the success of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa: The Rise- Part One and Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi that did well on the box office and are now being streamed on urban OTT platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix respectively.
ALTBalaji, that recorded subscription revenues of Rs. 45 crore in the first nine months of FY22, will add many new shows this year including Apharan 2, Pavitra Rishta 2, Bois Locker Room, Cold Lonelly Messy, Hashtagwarrs and Paurashpur 2, among others. Its non-fiction property Lock Upp, hosted by Kangana Ranaut started streaming earlier this week.
Media industry experts admit there is a market for what ALTBalaji typically offers but not without challenges. “As a platform, they are targeting two separate sets of audiences. First, the female at home who is hooked to TV and second, the youth that is looking for violent or erotic content. While there is a big youth market to tap into, they are also exploring programming available on other, global OTTs and it remains to be seen if ALT content works for them," Karan Taurani, senior vice-president at Elara Capital Ltd said.
On the television front, Balaji has produced six new shows earlier in the fiscal year and is looking at four new titles including the sixth season of Naagin and a soap called Parineeta, both on Colors. A new title is also slated to go on air on Sony Entertainment Television. Feature films on the floors include a remake of Kannada thriller U-Turn starring Alaya F, Kartik Aaryan-starrer Freddy, Vikas Bahl-directed Goodbye that will feature Amitabh Bachchan. It is also making Dobaaraa starring Taapsee Pannu and directed by Anurag Kashyap, and the sequel to 2014 hit Ek Villain, with Arjun Kapoor in the lead this time.
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“We’ve completed pre-sales for all our films. Ours is a high-volume profit strategy and massification is key for that," said Pantvaidya whose company is also making web originals for other platforms, such as Pagglait that streamed on Netflix last year.
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