With Rs 1,000 crore spend, Gangubai Kathiawadi producer Pen Studios to offer 4 more films in 2022

Poster showing Alia Bhatt as Gangubai Kathiawadi in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film. (Image credit: Instagram)

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Pen Studios, producer of the Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi, which is the first Bollywood film to cross the Rs 100 crore mark in 2022, is all set to offer movie-goers four more ventures this year. They are: RRR, starring Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Alia Bhatt; Shahid Kapoor's Jersey; Attack starring John Abraham, and Telugu film Acharya, starring Ram Charan.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, Jayantilal Gada, Chairman and MD of Pen Studios, said that the studio has invested over Rs 1,000 crore on films releasing in 2022.

Betting big on theatrical releases, Gada said that next year,  investments on movies will go up by 20-30 percent. He added that Pen Studios has nine films ready for release in theatres, of which four are scheduled for next year.

Pen Studios was among the studios that did not take the direct-to-digital route in the last two years when many filmmakers released films on streaming platforms due to the closure of cinemas because of the coronavirus outbreak. Gada said that the studio has no plans to make films only for over-the-top platforms (OTT).

"For creative people, releasing films directly on OTT is not an advantage. If we take Gangubai Kathiawadi's example, the success of director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and protagonist Alia Bhatt is counted on the basis of box office numbers. Alia Bhatt is on the top today because she has delivered Rs 100 crore films (at the box office)," said Gada.

He added that if Gangubai Kathiawadi had premiered on a streaming platform then it wouldn't have had the same mileage as the theatrical release.

But he said that streaming platforms have become the second-most important medium for films. "The medium has become big. TV ad revenue saw a drop and even subscriptions dropped (due to COVID-19). So, the contribution of TV has come down from 50 percent to 20-30 percent and the share of OTTs is now 50 percent."

Digital rights grew 86 percent in 2020 to reach Rs 3,540 crore as films were released directly on OTT platforms at rates that compensated producers (wholly or in part) for lost theatrical revenues, said an EY 2021 report. It is estimated that broadcast rights fell 68 percent in 2020 to Rs 710 crore.

However, Gada said that the premium OTTs were offering for films in the last two years will not continue.

"The business of OTTs is big on web series. Films are always going to be expensive because the cost of movie making is expensive," he said.

Pen Studios' Gangubai Kathiawadi will stream on Netflix 60 days after its theatrical run and post that will air on Zee Network. "RRR has many partners like Netflix, Zee, Star. We can give details on that front March end," said Gada.

When it comes to cinema, Gada is confident that films releasing on the big screen will perform better than they did in pre-COVID times.

In the last two years, the film industry saw a huge impact on business from delays in shooting, to postponing of film releases. Even a big venture like Bell Bottom, starring Akshay Kumar, which was the first to hit theatres in the aftermath of the second wave of COVID-19, failed to revive the box office. Released on August 19 last year, at a time when cinemas in many states were shut and operating with restricted capacity in other markets, Bell Bottom turned out to be only an average revenue earner, collecting only around Rs 27 crore in 23 days.

But with COVID-19 cases coming down and the majority of the markets allowing theatres to operate at full capacity, Gada said the film business is returning to normalcy.

He added that Gangubai Kathiawadi is doing well even in overseas markets. "Hindi films usually see a 25-30 percent contribution from overseas markets but for Gangubai Kathiawadi, the contribution is 50 percent.

Back home, analysts note that 85-90 percent of the country’s box office is now fully open. It is estimated that 22 Bollywood films due to release in 2022 have the potential of crossing Rs 100 crore at the box office.

Multiplexes such as PVR and INOX are betting big on March releases, especially RRR and Akshay Kumar's Bachchan Pandey. By June, analysts expect Hindi films to surpass pre-COVID levels at the box office.​