Bollywood learning to separate art, ownership and risk to draw capital

Music label and entertainment company Saregama India Ltd's investment in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s production company marks a shift in how Indian cinema may be financed going forward.

- Lata Jha [e-mail]

The deal, worth $325 crore, allows Bhansali Productions Pvt. Ltd to retain full intellectual property rights over its films while giving Saregama exclusive music rights to all its future films.

Experts see this development paving the way for more institutional funding in Indian cinema at a time when OTT platforms are tightening content spends and global capital is looking for disciplined exposure to Indian storytelling.

This model also aligns India closer to global studio-platform economics—separating high-margin IP ownership from high-risk production, and accelerating the sector's institutional maturity.