Can small-budget films save Bollywood? Inside India’s new wave of movie producers

Surprisingly, Aditya Jambhale’s directorial debut enjoyed a worldwide gross collection of close to ₹100 crore. Made on “limited resources", the movie is the only small-to-medium budget Hindi film that has drawn audiences to cinema halls.

With moviegoers losing interest in Hindi movies and unwilling to shell out ticket money, Bollywood has been struggling. And yet, more than a dozen production houses such as B62 Studios have mushroomed across Mumbai since 2022, developing and producing Hindi films even as the industry goes through one of its worst financial crises.

Bollywood films lost a four-percentage-point share at the box office, dropping to 40% in 2024 from 2023, according to an Ormax Media’s Box Office 2024 report. But declining theatrical footfalls and box office cash are not deterring big stars, former studio executives, first-time producers and a wider cast of players from setting up shop and taking financially risky bets on Hindi films.

While actor Rajkummar Rao and wife Patralekha Paul’s unnamed production company is gearing up to release Toaster on Netflix, B62 Studios, founded by director-producer Aditya Dhar, is now on its fourth production venture, Dhurandhar. Vinod Bhanushali, T-Series’ former top marketing executive, has produced at least six films since 2022 under Bhanushali Productions. Five-year-old Civic Studios has theatrical projects in different development stages, while newly launched Samrat Cinematics is gearing up to release Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi, its first movie, in cinema halls.

“Hindi films’ glamour quotient is so high… the excitement to see one’s name on the big screen is a factor contributing to people entering the production side of the industry," said Komal Nahta, a film trade analyst. But unlike other industries, filmmaking is one of the most speculative businesses in the world, Nahta added, where no one can predict a project’s financial success or failure.

Forget about clocking profits or breaking even. Currently, producers are finding it difficult to even recoup a film’s production cost. Movies that fail to attract audiences to cinema halls have limited avenues to recover even basic spends, especially with streaming platforms becoming choosy about acquiring films and satellite rights becoming less lucrative.

About 85 Hindi movies were theatrically released in 2024, according to a back-of-the-envelope calculation, of which only around 10 films ended up collecting box office cash.

On the flipside, films loved by audiences can go on to generate crores, unlock franchise movie opportunities, new potential territories for releases, and give a monetary boost to the wider movie ecosystem. In 2024, Telugu films Pushpa 2: The Rise, featuring Allu Arjun, and Vyjayanthi Movies’ Kalki 2898 AD found a surprisingly large audience base across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, in the Hindi belt. Pushpa 2’s Hindi dubbed version contributed ₹889 crore to the action-drama’s total gross of ₹1,403 crore, according to Ormax Media’s Box Office 2024 report.

“Even though it is a high-risk business, there is always an opportunity to generate supernormal profits and get high rewards," says Karan Taurani, a senior vice president at Elara Securities. “Most of the new production companies also aim to make content-led, story-driven films that do not necessarily need huge budgets, unlike star vehicle movies," he added.

The industry’s backbone

Creation of small-to-medium budget films by emerging production houses could prove to be good news for the Hindi movie ecosystem, which is desperate for a revival.

Films made on modest spends of ₹10-50 crore act as the industry’s backbone. Apart from providing employment opportunities to hundreds as crew members, these movie ventures become a playground for new writing, directing and acting talent, among others, possibly uncovering future stars.

For instance, the theatrical success of Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018) and Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) established actor Kartik Aaryan and filmmaker Dhar, respectively, as commercially viable talent.

A healthy movie ecosystem also requires a balanced flow of big-budget star vehicles and small-to-medium budget releases to sustain the industry.

Also, fundraising to finance video content is increasingly getting organised, according to Elara Capital’s Taurani. From bank loans to family investment offices, multiple avenues have popped up to fund a movie project.

Emerging producers are aware of the financial risks involved in the business of filmmaking. Hence, keeping a check on production costs, diversifying income streams, and brand building are a few ways the new outfits are experimenting to build their business.

Updating business practices

Uri’s director Aditya, along with his brother Lokesh Dhar (B62 Studios), claims to have been able to produce Article 370 (2024) and Dhoom Dhaam (2025) on limited resources by making the production process efficient. The two Yami Gautam-starring movies were also backed by Jio Studios, run by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

Processes are brought in place right from script development. Unlike the olden days of the film industry, where actors claimed to get scenes on the day of the shoot, emerging filmmakers these days aim to have hardbound scripts, and conduct workshops with actors, before shooting begins.

Taking such measures in pre-production stages helps mitigate unforeseen issues during a shoot, making the filming process much smoother.

“If we want to compete at a global level then our processes need to be smooth from the time a script is being developed and pre-produced up until its release," said Lokesh Dhar.

One of the top executives at Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV Motion Pictures (later acquired by the Walt Disney Company), Dhar has handled marketing and distribution on sport-drama Dangal (2016), Shahrukh-starrer Chennai Express (2013) and action-thriller Kaminey (2009), among others.

At B62 Studios, the founders exert creative control only when necessary. “The HoDs (heads of departments) are trained in their craft. We convey our vision and let them showcase their work," Aditya said. They have done away with strict hierarchical structures in order to have less lead time in solving issues.

“We are living in a different era. Now, you have to treat your colleagues respectfully," said Aditya. The brothers are also focusing on building B62 Studios, named after the number of their childhood home in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, into a brand people aspire to work at.

Multiple revenue streams

Anushka Shah, a former research professional at Ormax Consultants, is positioning Civic Studios as a global media company that creates social-impact driven content. Civic Studios, which has offices in Mumbai and London, started in 2016, and was incubated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab.

The company develops shows for streaming platforms (Family Aaj Kal, Vakeel Babu), films for theatrical releases, and acquires movies for distribution, thereby creating multiple revenue streams.

“When one operates in the high-risk business that filmmaking is, then one way to sustain for the longer term is by creating multiple income sources," said Shah. So, if the streaming platform is not commissioning scripts, then one can still keep the company afloat through other cash channels, she explained.

In April, Civic Studios released British-Indian production Santosh across the UK.

Going global

Top filmmakers across India are also aspiring to reach a wider set of audiences with their movies. To be sure, mainstream Indian films (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) have found a diasporic and local audience in China, West Asia, and Japan, as well as other Asian and South East Asian countries.

But the ambition has grown to attract people beyond the Indian diaspora in American and European territories. In 2023, Nag Ashwin-directed Kalki’s first look was released at Comic Con, one of the biggest comic book and multi-genre entertainment conventions, in San Diego, to position it as a global film, said Swapna Dutt, one of the film’s co-producers.

Lately, top Hindi filmmakers, including Zoya Akhtar (The Archies), Vikram Aditya Motwane (Jubilee) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Heeramandi), have also been developing movies and series for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which are available in 190 countries and 240 countries and territories, respectively.

The potential to be able to make films for a larger number of people within and outside India is pushing budding filmmakers to consider the stories they decide to work on.

Observing the workings of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) also gave budding filmmaker Priyanka Shailendra a route to distribute movies across more countries—if the stories resonate.

“I want to create films that can go beyond borders," said Shailendra, founder, Dancing Panda Films, who is currently scoping for studios to back two scripts.

Top international film festivals, including TIFF, the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival are not just made for marketing movies and snazzy celebrity red carpets. “It is a marketplace where moviemakers can strike lucrative deals with distributors operating in European and North American territories," said Ashwin Sharma, founder, Impact Films.

The Mumbai-based distribution company releases international movies in India, including Korean black comedy Parasite (2019), A24 Studio’s science-fiction drama Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and Japanese coming-of-age film Monster (2023).

In 2024, director Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix, the second prestigious award at the Cannes Film Festival, leading to theatrical releases in 18 countries, including the US, France, Australia and India.

This recent trend of premiering movies at film festivals and the success of filmmakers such as Kapadia is increasingly giving new entrants a straightforward route to reach a larger audience.

To be sure, mainstream Hindi films, including Lagaan (2001), Devdas (2002) and Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) were also screened at film festivals prior to being theatrically released in India.

Kapadia’s debut feature falls under the category of arthouse movies, similar to Masaan (2015) and Aligarh (2016), according to half a dozen film exhibitors.

“These kinds of films appeal to niche audiences and hence work in certain locations," said Ashish Pandey, head, content programming and strategic initiatives, Moviemax, a multiplex chain.

Release hurdles

Completing a movie’s production is nothing short of summiting Mount Everest. But the journey of a film’s theatrical release is similar to climbing K2, the second tallest mountain and a difficult climb, compared to Everest, said experts.

“So many films lie complete with no buyers," said Nahta.

Getting cinema space to showcase a film is one of the biggest hurdles in India. While 1,800-2,000 movies are reportedly being made every year, across 20 languages, only a couple of hundred get a theatrical release. Firstly, this is due to a shortage of screens and second, due to not being able to find distributors.

Without a theatrical release there is very little opportunity for producers to make supernormal profits on their investments.

India has 9,742 screens, of which 47% are across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, according to a joint report released by industry body Ficci and EY, a consultancy firm. In the US, AMC Theatres alone has 9,798 screens, according to a special report released by Cinema United, an industry body. Neighbouring China has close to 90,000 cinema screens, according to Statista.

For an emerging production company, having theatrically released projects is essential to attract better resources, said Abhishek Dhandaria, founder, About Films.

“After making a film that also brought in some box office cash, you can attract the attention of bigger studios to back your future projects," Dhandaria explained. The IIT-Mumbai graduate has created Amazon Prime Video’s Physics Wallah, and is also developing a film script.

Having the backing of a studio such as Jio Studios, Amazon MGM Studios, Yash Raj Films and Red Chillies Entertainment, could help an emerging filmmaker in navigating cost intensive efforts such as marketing and releasing a film.

The Hindi film ecosystem is going through a downturn without an end in sight. This is making top studios with deep pockets run their operations conservatively, taking less risky bets on theatrical projects, said Ishan Banerjee, an independent media counsel, who has handled legal proceedings for mega budget movies such as Fighter (2024) and Animal (2023).

“No one can predict what kind of film will break out," said Moviemax’s Pandey. But if more new stories do not make it to theatres, it might be hard for Bollywood to recover its box office share. And budding filmmakers could fizzle out before anyone can say “cut".