Moser Baer bags home video licence for UTV's films

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
UTV Motion Pictures has decided to exit the home entertainment business and will now focus only on theatrical distribution. The company has 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, and 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." said Harish Dayani, CEO, Moser Baer Entertainment.

Dayani continues as, "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."

Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures, says, "IThe 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."

"It makes strategic sense for us to license home video rights of our films to a company like Moser Baer Entertainment, which has particular expertise in this area and is instrumental in growing the home video market in the country. This gives our movies unparalleled access to millions of potential new viewers." Kapur adds.