Look Who’s Following Karan Johar’s Footsteps!

Siddharth
Roy
Kapur’s
RKF
aims
to
raise
around
$50
million
by
offering
up
to
a
50
per
cent
stake
in
the
company.

Mumbai-based
Roy
Kapur
Films
(RKF),
founded
by
Siddharth
Roy
Kapur,
the
former
managing
director
of
Walt
Disney
India,
is
seeking
equity
investment
to
scale
its
operations,
according
to
merchant
bankers
familiar
with
the
matter.

Sources
indicate
that
RKF
aims
to
raise
around
$50
million
by
offering
up
to
a
50
per
cent
stake
in
the
company.
Kapur,
they
said,
has
received
commitments
from
some
private
equity
funds
to
invest
up
to
$20
million.

A
query
to
Kapur
in
this
connection
did
not
elicit
a
response.
The
film
production
house
is
said
to
be
courting
both
domestic
media
and
entertainment-focused
private
equity
funds,
as
well
as
global
players.

RKF’s
fundraising
efforts
align
with
a
recent
trend
among
Indian
production
companies
seeking
external
capital
to
expand,
as
escalating
film
budgets
and
prohibitive
short-term
financing
costs
squeeze
profitability.

Last
month,
Karan
Johar’s
Dharma
Productions


sold
a
50
per
cent
stake
for
Rs
1,000
crore
(Rs
10
billion)
to
Serene
Productions
headed
by
Adar
Poonawalla,
CEO,
Serum
Institute
of
India.

Similarly,
Universal
Studios
is
said
to
be
in
talks
with
Excel
Entertainment,
founded
by
Farhan
Akhtar
and
Ritesh
Sidhwani,
which
is
also
exploring
the
sale
of
up
to
a
50
per
cent
stake.

Since
its
inception
in
2017,
RKF
has
released
seven
films
and
has
upcoming
projects
including

Deva
starring
Shahid
Kapoor
and

Woh
Ladki
Hai
Kahan,
featuring
Taapsee
Pannu
and
Pratik
Gandhi.

The
company
has
also
ventured
into
Web
series
production
for
platforms
like
Amazon
Prime,
Netflix
and
SonyLIV,
with
titles
such
as

Matka
King.

Kapur
is
no
stranger
to
blockbuster
film-making.
During
his
tenure
at
Disney
India,
he
played
an
instrumental
role
in
production
of
hits
like
the
Aamir
Khan-starrer

Dangal
and

Rang
De
Basanti,
Ranbir
Kapoor’s

Barfi,
and
the
Anurag
Kashyap-directed

Dev
D.

RKF
remains
a
relative
newcomer
compared
to
major
production
houses
like
Excel
Entertainment,
Red
Chillies
Entertainment,
Yash
Raj
Films
and
T-Series
but
the
Indian
content
landscape
is
attracting
significant
investor
interest.

The
domestic
film
industry
is
estimated
at
Rs
20,000
crore
(Rs
200
billion),
while
the
streaming
sector
has
surpassed
Rs
70,000
crore
(Rs
700
billion)
in
annual
revenue,
making
content
the
prized
asset.

Analysts
note
that
conglomerates
such
as
Reliance,
the
Adani
group
and
the
RPG
Group’s
Saregama
are
also
exploring
investment
opportunities
in
this
burgeoning
sector.

However,
not
all
is
rosy
for
Bollywood.
The
Hindi
film
industry
is
grappling
with
uneven
box
office
performance,
as
even
star-studded,
big-budget
productions
falter.

Dharma
Productions
recently
suffered
a
setback
when

Jigra,
starring
Alia
Bhatt,
reportedly
failed
to
recover
its
Rs
90
crore
(Rs
900
million)
production
cost
in
the
domestic
market.