Disney buys N American rights for TZP

In a first of its kind deal, Walt Disney has bought home video rights of Taare Zameen Par for the North American market. This is the first time an international studio has bought the video rights of an Indian film.

Disney, which inked the deal with UTV Motion Pictures that holds the overseas rights of the Aamir Khan-starrer, paid Rs 7 crore for the video rights.

"Disney as a brand has association with family and children. They have seen Taare Zameen Par as content that has a brand fit. Also, the film is being seen as one of the classics of recent times. Despite it not being a conventional NRI fare, the film has done very well in the overseas market, especially in North America," said Siddharth Roy Kapoor of UTV Motion Pictures.

Taare Zameen Par was released in December 2007 and became a critical as well as commercial success. The film, starring Darsheel Safary and Aamir Khan, was hailed for its sensitivity and it grossed in the range of Rs 100 crore worldwide.

Disney had earlier entered into a co-production tie-up with Yash Raj Films to produce the animation venture Roadside Romeo . Sony has entered into a three-film co-production deal with PNC. Indian films obtained official remake rights of Italian Job .

Warner Bros is producing Akshay Kumar-starrer Chandni Chowk To China . Each of these deals are only facilitating industry to industry contact at various levels.

Courtesy: timesofindia.com