Disney sings a Bollywood tune

The iconic studio looks beyond animation as it builds its brand with Indian audiences, with movies made in India

Disney India is diving in deep into Bollywood. Three years after it acquired a controlling stake in UTV Motion Pictures and UTV Spotboy, it has lined up new releases and has a new blueprint ready for its Bollywood yatra. Its latest production, ABCD 2, has grossed Rs 105 crore till date and the studio has lined up a strong set of movies featuring some of the industry's reigning stars - Jagga Jaasoos (Ranbir Kapoor), Mohenjo Daro (Hrithik Roshan) and Dangal (Aamir Khan). It is also planning to build a movie franchise with its Indian releases, just as it does globally.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD of the The Walt Disney Company India, says that he intends to focus on differentiating and building the studio's brand in the Bollywood production business. He believes the first order of business is to define a clear positioning for the brand. Here, the biggest challenge is the perception of Disney as a maker of children's and animated movies - two genres that have found little or no success in Indian cinema so far. "It's true that the genres Disney is perceived to be successful with have not taken off in India. However, when you look at it in a broader sense, Disney movies are those that make for good clean family viewing. We shall be focusing on that for our Disney branded movies," he says.

Disney and Bollywood are no strangers to each other. The global studio has worked on co-productions in the past but with little success. Things are changing, however; last year the studio produced and released Khoobsurat, which cost roughly Rs 15 crore to produce and earned around Rs 26 crore. It was more ambitious with ABCD 2, which was made at around Rs 55 crore. "We started with Khoobsurat which was meant to appeal to the family and with ABCD 2, we have done the same, and seen some amount of success too," Roy Kapur elaborates.

Disney India has been slow to show its intent however. After a co-production in 2007 and then 2010, it has not been too active. Analysts believe that while it may seem like there has been a lull, going in with a conscious plan is better. "It is evident that there was a plan in mind. While Khoobsurat was not a runaway hit, the studio did not lose money and it marked the entry of the brand. With ABCD 2 of course commercial success followed. It's a start and it's an uphill task for sure. There are many home-grown studios like Yash Raj and Dharma with strong roots in the industry and recall in the viewers' minds," says one analyst.

NOT JUST A MOVIE
From merchandised dolls and board games to reality shows, amusement park rides and digital properties, Disney has mastered the art of making movies live forever. Its India arm is doing the same with its latest release ABCD 2. It has:

• Tied-up with Voxpop for branded apparel inspired by the film.
• A Lakme mobile app  with tutorials where users can acquaint themselves with the make-up routine to look like the film’s female lead, Shraddha Kapoor.  
• A dance reality show inspired by the movie on television.
• A video game that features key characters from the film and allows gamers to choose the star and the dance they want to keep moving up the levels.

Roy Kapur and team are aware that establishing the brand needs more than just finding the right content and releasing the finished product. The marketing and presentation of the film has to have the trademark Disney flavour. So for Khoobsurat, the film was preceded by a short clip with female lead Sonam Kapoor narrating her experience with the Disney Princess franchise and philosophy. Globally, this is one of the most popular franchisees and classics like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and Snow White among others have a deep resonance with Indian audiences too. The idea was to establish the connection between Khoobsurat and Disney.

Roy Kapur is planning to build movie franchises for the Indian arm too. Disney has done that right from the 'Mickey and Friends' franchise to newer ones like the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe'. In fact many say that the studio considers a script to be successful only if it can cut across various media platforms. The first step towards this in India was with ABCD 2, a sequel to a 2013 hit by the same name. Disney has a dance show and has designed apparel and games around it.

Roy Kapur plans to use the Disney brand to reach out to expatriates in India and native audiences in foreign territories. "In most cases, the content of the movie is the main appeal. But yes, there is a distinct advantage in having the Disney brand on the film's poster . Globally, the brand has a strong recall and hence I am sure it will help tap into that audience abroad," says Kapur.

The Disney banner will also be used to segment content internally. UTV Motion Pictures and UTV Spotboy will focus on movies that are niche and experimental while Disney will go for family-based entertainment. For instance, movies such as Haider and Highway fit the UTV banner while the Disney line-up would be distinctly different. Now time to see if it can recreate the Disney magic with its Indian fare.