Saregama India Ltd has announced a strategic partnership with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bhansali Productions Pvt Ltd, signalling a recalibration of the company’s approach to film-linked content and music acquisition.
The partnership is anchored by an equity investment from Saregama and combines Bhansali Productions’ film and OTT development capabilities with Saregama’s music catalogue and live events business. The move reflects Saregama’s broader shift away from in-house film production towards capital-efficient, long-term collaborations with established studios.
As part of the agreement, Bhansali Productions will exclusively license the music rights of all its future films to Saregama under a pre-agreed pricing framework. Saregama said this structure would provide a predictable pipeline of premium film music, reduce reliance on competitive bidding, and offer greater control over acquisition costs.
Bhansali Productions will continue to retain ownership of its film intellectual property and maintain full creative control. Saregama, meanwhile, will have governance oversight and play a role in financial discipline within the partnership framework.
Saregama said it plans to progressively wind down its in-house film production activities over the next one to two years, aligning its content strategy more closely with partnerships rather than direct production. The company expects the investment to be earnings-per-share accretive by FY27 and to support margin expansion across its music and video segments.
Founded in 1996, Bhansali Productions has built a strong reputation for high-value, music-led cinema, with films including Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat and Gangubai Kathiawadi, along with the Netflix series Heeramandi. The studio plans to produce more than 10 feature films over the next three years.
Its upcoming slate includes Love and War, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, and Do Deewane Shehar Mein, directed by Ravi Udyawar and starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Mrunal Thakur.
Avarna Jain, Vice Chairperson at Saregama India, said the partnership reflects the company’s focus on working with established creative studios to drive sustainable, long-term shareholder value.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali said the collaboration was built on shared values around music, storytelling and artistic integrity.
Kotak Investment Banking acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Bhansali Productions on the transaction.
