MUMBAI: Soon after Indrani Mukerjea’s INX Media announced 11 production partners for its general entertainment channel, comes the news that the company has bought the satellite rights of three movies from Balaji Telefilms.

The films are Bhool Bhulaiya, Darling and My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, which are being produced by T-Series. The distribution and satellite rights of the films were bought by Balaji Telefilms, who in turn have sold the satellite rights to INX Media.

According to sources close to the development, the deal is pegged at Rs 150+ million. INX Media plans to launch a bouquet of channels including a Hindi movie channel by the end of this year.

Confirming the new development to Businessofcinema.com, Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Ramesh Sippy says, “INX’s upcoming movie channel has acquired the rights of some T-Series films that are being distributed by Balaji.”

When contacted INX Media CEO Indrani Mukerjea said, “I will not be able to comment on such issues at the moment since we are yet to come on air.”

Bhool Bhulaiya directed by Priyadarshan stars Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan. Darling, on the other hand, stars Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol and Isha Koppikar and is directed by Ram Gopal Varma, whereas My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves stars Nikhil Dwivedi and Amrita Rao and is directed by E Niwas.

Currently there are four Hindi movie channels in the fray. They are Zee Cinema, Max, Star Gold and Filmy. Satellite acquisition rights have touched a new high in the last year or so. Moreover, industry experts opine that with more movie channels coming up, these are only poised to go up further. As they say, only the fittest (in this case the ones with the deepest pockets) will survive.

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