Balaji Telefilms to enter American television market with Indus Media deal

Mumbai: Television and film production company, Balaji Telefilms Ltd on Thursday announced that it is entering the American television market by signing an American television series production deal with Indus Media, the firm said in filing to BSE.

The deal will see Balaji secure rights to the TV series ‘Brown Nation’, a satirical comedy based on the lives of Indian Americans, the firm said.

This will be the first series under the new deal and is being planned for release in early 2015. Balaji has been scouting for collaborations with international players to produce content for various locations across media platforms and this will be an important step to reach out to a diverse audience, the firm said in the filing.

“American sitcoms have influenced urban India and Indian youth across the globe. This will be a good opportunity for us to leverage our creative supremacy to enter a market not sufficiently fed with similar products,” said Sameer Nair, group chief executive, Balaji Telefilms Ltd.

Indus Media recently announced its plans to launch a $50 million entertainment fund to invest in films and television in American and South Indian market, the filing said.

“We have been looking to enter India with our proposed entertainment fund and this fits in well with our India strategy,” said Naveen Chathappuram, founding director, Indus Media.

Balaji’s shares closed the day at Rs.67.65, up by 2.34% on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex closed at 27,126.57, up by 1.56%. The announcement was made after market hours.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.