KBC veteran Sameer Nair charts new course for Applause Entertainment with big-screen ambitions

Sameer Nair- CEO, Applause Entertainment (3)

In a year marked by a steady stream of weekend binge-worthy content, Sameer Nair has been a key architect behind hits like Black Warrant on Netflix, Criminal Justice Season 4 on JioHotstar, and the recent The Hunt on SonyLIV. Now, Managing Director of Applause Entertainment is setting his sights on a bigger prize: the theatrical film market.

Applause, owned by the Aditya Birla Group, is one of India’s leading content studios, and is ramping up efforts to establish a formidable presence in cinema. “We are very focused on trying to build a large movie studio,” Nair told Moneycontrol in an interview, signaling a strategic pivot toward big-screen productions.

Nair, who first made his mark producing iconic television shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kaun Banega Crorepati, has long been a key player in India’s evolving entertainment landscape.

Big screen, bigger play

Among Applause’s upcoming projects is Bison, a Tamil-language sports drama directed by Mari Selvaraj, marking the company’s deepening investment in theatrical ventures. "We have got a big movie called Bison produced by Ranjith. We are building a new slate of movies for the future years and are working with Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali," he added.

Through the big screen push, Nair is expecting strong contributions in terms of revenue from theatrical content.

"For the last many years, we have been focused on series, therefore (streaming) platforms and that's been our business model of making series and licensing it to platforms. Starting from this year, we are making a big push into theatrical movies and going to movies is going to become a very large component of our life. In the coming years we will end up at a 50:50 (revenue) between movies and series," he said.

He noted that cinemas unlock the real value of content. "There is a lot of potential in the movie business. The whole industry needs to focus on how to build more screens because that's where the money is and that is where the retail revenue is and then content can go on to streaming and TV."

The theatre business was hit by the pandemic impact but it has bounced back, Nair said. The success of recently released movies like Chhaava and Saiyaara is giving him confidence to bet big on movies.

In addition, Nair, who has built a robust OTT series business, will now be replicating the same re-investment model for big screen movies.

"What we have done for the last eight years is that we've been deeply in a reinvestment mode. We have done a lot more work for the amount of capital investment. The way the movie and entertainment business works is that it's connected to cash flow and you have to recycle that cash. If you can get three-four good cash flow cycles going, it works out quite well. That's what we are doing and building a brand, building IP (Intellectual Property), building catalogue and library. Now, we are getting into movies. We'll have a whole bunch of movies that will be owned by us. It will be part of our library of content."

India with 9,927 screens until last year has still not managed to touch the 10,000 mark. Its screen density remains extremely low compared to other countries like the US and China, per FICCI and Ernst & Young estimates.

The shortening of digital windows (time taken for a theatrical movie to stream on an OTT) to four weeks in many cases has led to the cost-conscious audience segment willing to wait for films that do not receive a high rating or positive social media reaction.

In addition, most of the cinemas are concentrated in the Southern markets with the region having 4,544 screens out of the total number of screens in India.

There has been growth albeit slow. In 2024, screen count increased 2 percent to reach 9,927 screens led by Maharashtra which added 50 new screens (5 percent increase), Kerala which added 36 new screens (5 percent increase), Rajasthan (8 percent increase) and Gujarat (2 percent increase) where both the states added 20 new screens each, according to FICCI-EY 2025 report.

However, poor performance of large budget Hindi films, as well as some South films, led to a drop in overall box office collections; a fewer number of hits drove a larger proportion of revenues, with some estimates showing that over 70 percent of total box office earnings were delivered by just the top 10 films. Film segment revenues fell to Rs 18,700 crore in 2024 from Rs 19,700 crore in the previous year.

Watch full interview: Brain Behind OTT Hits Like Scam 1992 & Criminal Justice: Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment