Known for making hit reality shows such as Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi , Endemol India is looking at acquisitions to expand its portfolio.

It is also planning to go regional with its reality shows and earn nearly half of its revenues from movie production.

Endemol India recently announced that it is co-producing a fiction show with Amitabh Bachchan, marking the superstar’s debut on TV as an actor and producer, which will be directed by Anurag Kashyap. It is also making a 26-episode reality show called Police Dial 100 that will travel with Delhi Police to capture real life crimes and investigations. The show will debut on Life Ok this weekend.

Last year, CA Media, the Asian investment arm of The Chernin Group, acquired 49 per cent stake in Endemol India after which the company said it will enter film production.

Talking about the company’s expansion plans Endemol India, Deepak Dhar CEO and MD of Endemol India, said the company was keen on acquisitions as the television content production space is evolving further. Dhar said the acquisitions could be in the fiction content space.

The company has also got a co-production deal with Eros International Media for three feature films which include a remake of an action comedy South Indian film besides a comic caper. Dhar said that Endemol will also be looking at adapting Eros International’s movie content for the television.

creating content

“We want to be known as a content house rather than a production house. We will look at creating content for all kinds of platforms whether it is cell phone or the television. We could look at Bigg Boss version only for the Internet with common people in a house,” added Dhar.

He added that the company is also gearing up with film production after bagging the remake rights of hit Hindi move Kahaani to be made in Tamil and Telugu besides rights for a Hindi remake of Malayalam movie Traffic . “Movies will be big focus area. We expect movies to contribute nearly 50 per cent to our revenues in the future. We will focus on Hindi as well as the regional languages,” he said.

He said, “This year we have started taking our formats to regional markets. For instance, Bigg Boss now runs for 300 days in a year and we want to run it for 365 days in a year. We made it in Kannada and more recently in Bengali. Similarly, we want to adapt Fear Factor into regional languages too.”

Asked about Endemol’s joint venture with Rhiti Sports which was stuck in 2011, Dhar said, “We are still working on some initiatives for sports-based format shows. Sports-based shows are a different world altogether.”

Meenakshi.v@thehindu.co.in

comment COMMENT NOW