Movies enjoy an almost 'basic need of survival' status in India. UTV Motion Pictures has worked consciously to ride on that phenomenon, pioneering not just newer films and story ideas, but also the very manner in which films are made in India. From novel plots and stories that one would think can never work in mainstream cinema, to pioneering the studio model in movie production, UTV has always led positive change in the Indian motion picture industry.
Today, UTV's Motion Pictures business spans the integrated model of creative development, production, marketing, distribution, merchandising and syndication worldwide. UTV's portfolio includes Hindi Movies, Regional Movies, Animation Films, international productions and co productions, besides an exclusive distribution arrangement for India with The Walt Disney Company.
No surprise then, that our movies do just as well at the box office as they do at film festivals around the world. Our ability to innovate at the script level has led to the development of an almost new genre in Indian cinema, breaking the mould in Indian film making. Our films like Dev.D and A Wednesday! were among those that did not boast of a lavish budget or a power-packed star cast, and yet created history at the box office because of the inherent strength of their content. By the same token, Fashion, led by an all female star cast, bucked the trend of women oriented subjects not performing at the box office and grossed more than most big solo hero starrers in the same period.
In 2008-09, UTV Motion Pictures emerged as one of the largest production houses in the country with 10 Hindi Film releases, 1 in Tamil and M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening - the first mainstream Hollywood movie co-produced by an Indian movie studio. Not only this, we also distributed Disney's productions - Confessions of a Shopaholic and Bedtime Stories in India. This coupled with innovative marketing initiatives and a concentrated campaign to leverage value across existing and new media platforms, further reinforced our stature as not only the leading motion picture producers in India, but also the most innovative.
An unparalleled slate lined up for the year 2009 - 2010 boasts of movies spanning across various genres from romance to action and from thriller to comedy such as Prakash Jha's Rajneeti, Deven Khote's Phillum City, Ken Ghosh's Chance Pe Dance, Sanjay Leele Bhansali's Guzaarish and Aamir Khan's production Delhi Belly and The Falling.