Boutique Studios: Bollywood's Salvation?

More than a dozen production houses have mushroomed across Mumbai since 2022

- Prasannata Patwa

Last February, Mumbai-based production house B62 Studios released Article 370, its first venture. The film, backed by Jio Studios, was being released at a time when big-budget star vehicles, such as the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Fighter, were struggling to sell tickets.

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.