Disney India to Ditch Bollywood Productions !

After Huge Flop of ‘Mohenjo Daro,”there are talks of Disney India exiting Bollywood Productions

The Walt Disney Company India is getting out of Bollywood, shifting its focus from local-language features to marketing its Hollywood slate.

According to a report in The Economic Times, coming off the record success in India with The Jungle Book as well as some Disney-produced Bollywood flops, including historical epic Mohenjo Daro, the studio is getting out of the Bollywood business.

Disney made box office history in India this summer when The Jungle Book became the highest-grossing Hollywood release in India. The Jon Favreau-directed title, which is set in India, grossed $23.7 million (1.57 billion rupees) within its first 12 days of release beating previous record holder Furious 7, which grossed a total of $23.4 million (1.55 billion rupees) during its entire theatrical run last year. The Jungle Book went on to cross the $30 million (2 billion rupees) mark.

Disney expanded its Indian presence in 2012 when it acquired a controlling stake in UTV, a leading broadcasting, film and media company for which the studio made an offer of $454 million.

In addition to its TV business — to which Disney added its bouquet of kids channels — UTV’s film arm was a strong Bollywood player with major releases to its credit such as Anurag Kashyap’s 2009 breakout Dev.D, and co-production credits on international titles including Mira Nair’s The Namesake. Following the Disney takeover, UTV delivered a number of Hindi-language hits, including 2014’s PK, which is estimated to have grossed more than $100 million.

But of late the studio has had a string of flops, among them the romantic drama Fitoor, released in February and starring actress Katrina Kaif and actor Aditya Roy Kapoor, and the big-budgetMohenjo Daro, starring actor Hrithik Roshan, which opened August 12 to mixed reviews and a disappointing box office.

“It is unfortunate that Disney has decided to pull the plug on the Hindi film production business, which UTV was known and respected for,” the Times report stated, quoting an unnamed source in the company who added, “But in the current scenario, it is unviable and loss-making. I hope we will revive this business in the future.”

The source also said that Disney India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur will exit the company after his contract ends in January. An earlier report by business paper Mint also quoted sources suggesting that Kapur is “likely” to quit the company.
There has been no comments from Disney so far on this report.Looking ahead, Disney’s upcoming Bollywood releases include the much-awaited wrestling drama Dangal starring actor Aamir Khan, who delivered the hit PK, which opens December 23. The studio’s other major release is Jagga Jasoos starring actor Ranbir Kapoor and actress Katrina Kaif which is set to open next April.

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