The Mumbai-based web series producer is currently making two to three small-to-medium budget films that will be “substantially developed” by December, a top executive told Mint. Announcement of title, first look and trailers is expected around 2026.
This development comes as TVF has managed to amass over 22 million (2.2 million) cumulative followers and subscribers through its presence on YouTube, Instagram and other digital platforms. The maker of more than 50 shows now wants to use this audience base as his theater audience to watch movies made under TVF Motion Pictures.
Contrast this with TVF’s competitors, including Pocket Aces Pictures Pvt. of Saregama. Ltd, which created Little Things (2016-2021), and Rusk Media, backed by Krafton, which has a cumulative 10.5 million followers on Instagram and YouTube.
“We have always focused on catering to different kinds of communities through our shows,” said Vijay Koshy, President, TVF, in an interview with Mint.
Some of TVF’s most popular shows include the comedy series Panchayat, set in a fictional Indian village, which depicts various elements of rural politics. Kota Factory and Aspirants target students preparing for Indian competitive exams like Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination.
“Even if about a thousand people watch and like a show, they’re most likely going to spread the word and generate positive word of mouth,” Koshy added.
TVF now wants to use its niche fan base for its shows to reach out to the audiences who pay cinema tickets for their films. Koshy did not immediately disclose TVF’s distribution strategy for its independently produced shale.
Most independent producers of mainstream films are looking for distribution companies or independent distributors to bring the films to theaters. Agreements for distribution, streaming, music and television rights are usually made during the post-production stages.
Using communities
Communities created on digital platforms or in the real world have been used to market products since the dawn of consumerism. “Community-driven marketing happens when a film hits a niche,” said Natasha Nayak, film marketing specialist and founder of Culture Shock Media.
For example, Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots (2009) could be marketed to engineers as the story revolves around students studying in an engineering college, which would resonate with them, adds Nayak.
An engaged community on YouTube and social media platforms, combined with TVF’s series-focused skills, could create a direct audience for the company to promote its films.
“Our community and word of mouth should drive people to the theaters and there should be crashes. But we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Koshy added. TVF’s in-house films will be made at modest expenses ₹10 million and ₹50 million crowns.
In today’s information overloaded digital world, it is difficult for movies to gain audiences as the movie trailer gets lost in a lot of content, among other marketing tools.
TVF’s first film Vvan-Force of the Forrest starring Siddharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia is backed by Balaji Motion Pictures (managed under Balaji Telefilms Ltd), India’s top film studio known for films like The Dirty Picture (2011), Ragini MMS (2011) and Udta Punjab (2016jab).
The “folk-thriller” was supposed to be released in 2025, but is now expected to be released next year.
Unlike Vvan, TVF’s future films will be made on modest budgets with newer and “fresher” actors in the young adult, romcom and satirical family genres, Koshy said.
After achieving success in the digital series space, launching a film division is a natural progression for TVF, Koshy told this reporter about two years ago.
Trouble in paradise
More than a dozen production houses have sprung up across Mumbai in recent times, Mint reported, even as the film ecosystem is experiencing one of its worst downturns.
Making small-to-medium budget films by emerging production companies could prove to be good news for the Hindi film ecosystem, which is in desperate need of a revival.
A healthy film ecosystem also requires a balanced flow of big budget star vehicles and small to medium budget releases to sustain the industry.
TVF’s decision to produce films independently comes at a time when the Indian film ecosystem is going through financial turmoil as a number of big-budget films have either bombed or underperformed in the past few years. These include Akshay Kumar-starrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyaan and Samrat Prithviraj’s historical fiction and Ajay Devgn’s sports drama Maidaan.
Because of this, small-to-medium budget films, which act as the backbone of any film industry, find it difficult to secure financial backing and screens as studios, distributors and exhibitors are concerned about the potential of such a film to gain traction among India’s price-conscious and mature audiences.
Low-budget box office money generators like the romantic musical Saiyaara (2025) and the sleeper hit 12th Fail (2023) were also released. However, since cinemas reopen in March 2022, such films are few and far between.
Made on a shoestring budget, between ₹10 million and ₹Movies with a small to medium budget of 50 million and with slightly known or brand new actors depend only on a compelling story and the assumption that they will capture the attention of the audience. The making of such films also becomes a playground for budding writing, acting and directing talents to practice their craft, while designers, editors, salesmen, technicians and spot boys, among many others, find employment as crew members.
Early times
“There are some very interesting stories that we want to tell through films,” said Vijay Koshy, President, TVF, in an interaction. “We have been successful in showcasing professions or occupations and building an authentic story around them through our shows. This has helped us reach out to a broad Indian audience. We hope to recreate the same authenticity in our films as well,” added Koshy.
If TVF can drive its community audience to cinemas, such an organized marketing and distribution model would be the first to emerge from the Indian film ecosystem.
Founded in 2012 under Contagious Online Media Networks by Arunabh Kumar, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus with a background in film and advertising, and a few other IITians, TVF started as a YouTube channel posting song and film parody videos. The YouTube channel’s breakthrough came with Rowdies, a spoof of the Roadies reality TV show that went viral over a decade ago. The initial core of the team included Sameer Saxena, who quit his cushy job as a consultant, former lawyer Nidhi Bisht and Saurabh Khanna, among others.
Saxena also co-directed TVF’s first original show Permanent Roommates (2014). Since then, the company releases at least one original program every year. In 2015, TVF entered the streaming business with the launch of TVFPlay, a free-to-view platform that also attracted its first ever venture capital investment, a $10 million funding round led by New York-based Tiger Global Management.
In fiscal year 24, TVF reported total sales of ₹161 crore, a slight decline year-on-year, while profits after tax reached higher ₹14.5 million, according to the latest data available from research platform Tracxn.
A post published on Medium in 2017 alleging sexual harassment in the workplace by founder Arunabh Kumar led to his replacement by Dhawale Gusain, who later joined Disney+Hotstar (now JioHotstar). Currently, Kumar is co-directing with Deepak Mishra, one of the makers of Panchayat, and is also named as a producer on Vvan.
