Balaji Telefilms looks to invest Rs 400 cr in video platform

Balaji Telefilms plans to invest up to Rs 400 crore in its over-the-top subscriber video on- demand platform 'ALTBalaji' which becomes operational from Sunday.
"ALTBalaji is a first of its kind subscription service with original content in local languages. Total investment that we plan to make in ALTBalaji is Rs 300-400 crore," Balaji Telefilms Group CEO Sameer Nair told PTI.
ALT Balaji will go live on web and its app from Sunday with six shows initially and promises a new show every fortnight.
"We are covered for next six months of content pipeline. We are working on interesting concepts and will not showcase elitist content ... We are a mainstream service," ALTBalaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya said.

When asked about the revenue Balaji Telefilms expects from this venture, Nair refused to comment.
He, however, said: "We are looking at reaching break even in 3.5 years when we have 4 million subscribers in India and abroad".

Sameer Nair had earlier said by 2025, he expects ALTBalaji to be bigger than both its TV and movies businesses.
ALTBalaji, which will offer multiple genres like thriller, comedy, dramatic love stories and kids programming, will initially charge Rs 30 per month. First five episodes of every show will be available free for viewing.
The ad free, subscription based platform plans to offer more than 250 hours of original, exclusive content to its subscribers.