The rising southern film wave is likely to impact early acquisition players

 

Major OTT players including foreign giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are now competing to secure the rights of big tent-pole southern films.

The rising popularity of South Indian films in multiple languages across the country may soon spell some trouble for players like Goldmines Telefilms, who were among the first to secure the Hindi dub rights of these films on their satellite and YouTube channels. . For one, major OTT players including foreign giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are now competing to secure the rights of big tent-pole southern films, whose rates have increased by 20-30% in the last two years .

Also, many southern producers are keeping the Hindi rights with them to be able to cash in on the remake later. That said, companies like Goldmines still have a huge array of non-star, small-scale films to choose from and may be some time away from really feeling the heat.

Yusuf Shaikh, business head of production and feature films, said, "Things have definitely changed as far as acquisition of southern language films is concerned, there are three to four big contenders for any star vehicle or big ticket film and Prices are going up." Distribution company Percept Pictures.

Apart from major players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar who are looking to build regional content libraries, media industry experts say several language-specific OTT players have emerged in the last few months. Also, home services such as VOOT and AHA Video are competing for these rights.

“The market for South Indian films is at an all-time high, so producers don't want to give away remake or dubbing rights so easily. Even their actors charge hefty fees. Producers feel that they can plan big-sized films to go ahead only if they make enough from the rights of previous films," said Shaikh, explaining why large acquisition fees seem attractive to southern producers. .

Manish Shah, founder and director of Goldmines Telefilms, whose YouTube channel Goldmines and TV channel Dhinchak (recently renamed Goldmines Movies) are known for serving young, small-town, mobile-savvy audiences dubbed southern film fare, responds Didn't answer Mint's queries on these recent challenges.

Film distributor and exhibitor Sunny Khanna said that when a new person offers more money, the old players also have to try to match. Khanna explained, "The other challenge is that southern producers want to retain the Hindi remake rights, something that could fetch them up to ₹25 crore if the film is a hit in the original language."

To be sure, all is not lost yet for players like Goldmines, who were the first to enter the Hindi dubbing market. Media industry experts say the enthusiasm of big OTT players is limited to big southern language hits featuring popular stars, for now.

“There are many films which have second-rate stars, with good action and comedy which can do very well on Hindi satellite and digital platforms. Also, a lot of manufacturers are wary of working with corporates and may prefer players like Goldmines who offer money," said independent trade analyst Sridhar Pillai.