How Indian Cinema Became A Pan-India Business

Anil Thadani, founder of the Indian film distribution company AA Films, is a proud man. The catalogue of his company boasts of box office hits as well as content-driven cinema. In 2022 alone, the company has had India’s top grossers to its credit and these include Bhool Bhulaiyya 2, KGF Chapter 2 and Pushpa The Rise. It even has Anubhav Sinha’s critically acclaimed Anek to its credit.

Starting with Yash Raj Films’ Yeh Dillagi starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan in the lead, AA Films banner have distributed many projects that surprised at the box office. Vidya Balan-starrer The Dirty Picture, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt’s debut film Student of the year, Richa Chadha’s Fukrey, Sidharth Malhotra-Riteish Deshmukh’s Ek Villain, Prabhas-starrer Bahubali and KGF Chapter 1, to name a few. The company has also been associated with sure shot winners such as Hrithik Roshan-starrer Agneepath, the second instalment of Bahubali 2 and Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy that featured Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.

Thadani believes he has been lucky to associate with big production houses that have mostly proved fruitful for his business. However, he adds that going by his instinct while picking films has also helped him a lot. Talking about films that do unexpectedly high business, Thadani says, “Aashiqui 2 was the first film that did huge business, the first small film to do that. Then came The Dirty Picture, Badhai Ho and Hindi Medium and all those. No one was interested in these films before the release. Luckily, I have been associated with production houses that make such films. But, I primarily go with my instinct. I loved Aashiqui 2 and I went out of my way to get it and distribute it. Similar was the case for The Dirty Picture and Ek Villain. And I will go out of way and try to strike a deal for all the films that I like.”

Thadani recalls how he has had an eye for the right content even before the concept of pan-Indian films came into popular being. “I loved Eega, found contacts, but the deal did not materialize as they got a better offer. I wanted to work with SS Rajamouli and when I saw window in Bahubali, I grabbed the opportunity. Similar for KGF, nobody knew the film when the first part came out. I liked the film and the people associated with it. I saw potential in it, so I wanted my name attached to it. I have got that window to watch these films. I have been lucky to associate with the films.”

“I did Rajinikanth’s 2.0, those were pocket films and were dealt with in a different way. With Bahubali, things changed. The concept of pan-India cinema came into being. The content was different, but what changed majorly was the way it was promoted, publicized and distributed. We put in that much money – an amount you’d expect for the biggest of star’s film for the publicity campaigns. We promoted the film in such a way. We did not project it as a regional film, but projected it as a national one and luckily it paid off.”

Ek Villain 2 and Phone Booth are two films that AA Films will distribute in near future.

(The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)