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UTV Software Communications' Motion Pictures arm is bullish on the South, a fact evident from the appointment of former Moser Baer COO to head its entry into Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies.
UTV's first release in the South in 2011 will be Muran , a film it acquired from producer-director Cheran, slated for a June release. The company already has another project in the pipeline, Dhanush-starrer Irandam Ulagam , directed by Selvaraghavan.
By the end of June, UTV Motion Pictures will have a list of films to announce, said Mr G. Dhananjayan, Chief-South Film Business, UTV Motion Pictures.
Speaking to Business Line , he said, “The general ratio would be 30 to 35 per cent being our own productions and the rest being films that we buy out. We are currently negotiating with three films, and will be continuously looking at more content.”
He noted that the ideal number of films under the UTV banner would be four to five in Tamil during the year, two to three in Telugu and two in Malayalam.
The UTV official was quick to clarify that there were no rigid targets on the number of films it would produce or buy.
“We are not in a hurry and we don't have targets. Desperation leads to irrational price hikes. Only if it is viable will we buy a title. It has to be a win-win situation,” he added.
From its Hindi titles, the studio is considering remakes of Fashion, No One Killed Jessica, Kaminey and Aamir , among others, in the three South Indian languages.
“There are several conflicts in adaptation. For instance, should it be a scene-by-scene remake or an adaptation? Also, we realise that multi-starrers do not work as well in the South. But we're discussing some of the UTV titles in depth. UTV continuously produces good films and there is no shortage of titles to look at,” explained Mr Dhananjayan.
UTV is ‘on the verge' of launching a production with ‘a big star' in the South, according to him.
“We will be making an announcement very soon. With big stars and high costs, it makes sense to produce the film ourselves, as it gives us better control over the film.”
Heads for the three South businesses will be in place by May, and will report to Mr Dhananjayan.
The company is also putting together a content and production team for the South.
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