Fox Star's aggressive India strategy

He hit gold with the studio's first project, Jolly LLB, in 2013. And, Fox Star Studios' (FSS) chief executive, Vijay Singh, hopes to continue tasting success with more productions this year. Aiming at a turnover of Rs 800-1,000 crore (across Hindi, Tamil and Hollywood releases) in 2014, Singh is determined to make FSS a creative studio.

Launched in 2008, FSS in its early days focused on acquiring films and distributing these across the country, at times abroad. A joint venture between 20th Century Fox and broadcasting giant Star, the studio came out with its first production in 2013, the Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi starrer, Jolly LLB. It went on to win two national film awards.
 

"We want to position ourselves as a creative studio. With Jolly LLB, we got the thrust we were hoping for. Now, we have a slate of productions and co-productions which will help take the profile of FSS' work to the next level. For this, we are investing time, energy and resources in a mix of films - some with mass appeal, while others push the envelope on content," says Singh.

According to sector estimates, with releases such as Hawaa Hawaai, Citylights and Humshakals in Bollywood, Cuckoo and Mundaasupatti in Tamil, and The secret life of Walter Mitty and X-Men first class: Days of future past from Hollywood, it has nearly 40 per cent of the box office. If it reaches its goal of Rs 800-1,000 crore turnover by the end of 2014, it will figure in the top three studios in India, rubbing shoulders with leaders Eros International and UTV Motion Pictures (a part of the Disney Company in India).

This year, the studio will be releasing a movie almost every two weeks. The next movie from FSS will be Finding Fanny, directed by Homi Adajania and featuring Deepika Padukone and Arjun Kapoor. After that, FSS will be gearing up for the October 2 release, Bang Bang, starring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif. The movie is a remake of one of Fox Studios' Hollywood projects, Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. It will follow the release of Bang Bang with a Christmas release, Bombay Velvet, with Ranbir Kapoor and Anoushka Sharma in the lead.

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FOX'S MISSION OUTFOX

• A joint venture between 20th Century Fox and broadcasting giant Star, the Fox Star Studios (FSS) came out with its first production in 2013, the Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi starrer, Jolly LLB
  

 

According to sector estimates, with releases such as Hawaa Hawaai, Citylights and Humshakals in Bollywood, Cuckoo and Mundaasupatti in Tamil, and The secret life of Walter Mitty and X-Men First Class: Days of future past from Hollywood, it has nearly 40 per cent of the box office
 

If FSS reaches its goal of Rs 800-1,000 crore turnover by the end of 2014, it will figure in the top three studios in India, rubbing shoulders with leaders Eros International and UTV Motion Pictures (a part of the Disney Company in India)