The last two-three days, the entertainment section of many news sites and publications has been splashed with the report of one of India's top film production houses Yash Raj Films (YRF) getting ready to venture into the OTT space.
The news --- intriguingly, quoting unnamed source --- has it that Aditya Chopra, who helms YRF, will spend Rs 500 crore to set up the OTT venture, putatively named Yash Raj Entertainment.
YRF is one of the most well-known Bollywood studios, which has produced super-hit yesteryear movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Silsila, Darr, Chandni and Dil To Pagal Hai. In more recent times, it has had films like Mardaani and Thugs of Hindostan.
For the record, YRF had a previous digital venture named Y Films, which basically uploaded its films on YouTube.
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What happens to the deal with Amazon Prime Video?
Multiple media reports had an unidentified source gushing: “Aditya Chopra wants to contribute towards raising the bar of digital content production in India. He wants to match global standards of vision and storytelling with stories that are rooted in India. These scripts are being homegrown in YRF as we speak. This could be the moment that reshapes the OTT space forever. YRF has huge plans and they will roll out their strategy soon. Wait for some of the biggest announcements ever seen in the digital content space.”
This breathless tone makes one a bit sceptical. Why is a potentially big foray being announced through a name-less voice? And the words of the vaunted plans are similar across news platforms the same?
Be that as they may be, the reports of YRF's possible jump into the OTT space have come just a few weeks after it gave exclusive streaming rights of its next four films to Amazon Prime Video.
The content slate includes the heist comedy Bunty Aur Babli 2, the mega-action entertainer Shamshera, the historical action spectacle Prithviraj and the big-ticket family entertainer Jayeshbhai Jordaar. These four biggies feature, among others, Bollywood top heroes like Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor and Akshay Kumar.
So what happens to this big-ticket deal?
Apparently, these existing partnerships will stay. Amazon Prime Video, which also has the streaming rights for many of YRF's yesteryear blockbusters, will continue to hold them.
So that leaves even less exclusive content for YRF on its own platform as when it is floated.
Can YRF take on the competition?
Make no mistake about it, YRF will not be the first Bollywood production house in the OTT market. Ekta Kapoor’s AltBalaji has been around for quite some time now. Dharma Film’s Dharmatic, helmed by Karan Johar, is also in the scheme of things. But this venture, as of now, is more into production of content for existing OTT platforms. Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment has also dabbled in OTT market.
But these names, backed by Bollywood A-listers, have not made much headway. So the question is: Can YRF break the trend?
As it happens, the odds stacked against it seem enormous.
YRF is up against rivals like Netflix, Amazon and Disney Plus Hotstar that have deep pockets. These global streamers have changed the way showbiz is conducted in these parts, upsetting the power balance and restructuring remunerations.
Can YRF come up with the much-needed massive slate of content to be a reasonable player in the market? It will need to compete with global OTT platforms for talent and resources for new content.
That challenge, needless to say, is daunting.
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