Saregama India Ltd, India’s oldest music label and a leading entertainment company, has announced a strategic partnership with Sanjay Leela Bhansali–promoted Bhansali Productions Private Limited, marking a significant consolidation in India’s media and entertainment space. The partnership is anchored by a substantial equity investment by Saregama in Bhansali Productions and aims to build a next-generation content powerhouse by combining creative excellence with commercial scale.
The collaboration brings together Bhansali Productions’ globally recognised cinematic storytelling with Saregama’s leadership in music, live events, and content monetisation. Bhansali Productions, founded in 1996 by acclaimed filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is known for its distinctive artistic vision and commercially successful films and OTT series that have shaped modern Indian cinema. The association is expected to strengthen both companies’ positions across music, film, and digital platforms.
As part of the partnership, Bhansali Productions will exclusively sell all future film music to Saregama under a pre-agreed commercial formula. This arrangement ensures Saregama a consistent pipeline of premium, marquee film music while eliminating competitive bidding for music rights. The structure is designed to secure long-term market share in new music acquisitions and provide better cost control, enhancing profitability over time.
With the fresh capital infusion, Bhansali Productions plans to significantly expand its content slate across formats, including films and series, while continuing to retain full ownership of intellectual property for its projects. The studio has over 10 feature films planned over the next three years, underscoring its ambition to scale output without compromising its auteur-driven creative ethos. Its immediate slate includes “Love and War,” directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal, and “Do Deewane Shehar Mein,” a romantic drama directed by Ravi Udyawar featuring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Mrunal Thakur.
Aligned with its evolving content strategy, Saregama has indicated that it will gradually streamline its in-house film production activities over the next one to two years. The company intends to focus more on strategic partnerships like this, which offer predictable returns, access to premium content, and stronger capital efficiency. The investment in Bhansali Productions is expected to be EPS accretive for Saregama by FY27 and is likely to improve margins across both its music and video segments.
Bhansali Productions enters this partnership from a position of financial strength. For FY25, the studio reported revenue of ₹304 crore, EBITDA of ₹60 crore, and profit after tax of ₹45 crore, reflecting disciplined execution and robust balance-sheet fundamentals. The partnership framework allows Bhansali Productions to retain complete creative control, while Saregama will provide governance oversight and financial discipline, creating a balanced structure that aligns artistic excellence with long-term institutional growth.
