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.
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.
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.
