SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES

Principles and Practices of Management

Research Paper: Family Owned Business Houses

Balaji Telefilms Private Limited

Presented By:
Presented To:
Ashna Srivastava
Prof. Mala Sane
Roll No 11
Section A
Date of Submission:
PRN No 10020441011
21st July 2010
BALAJI TELEFILMS
INTRODUCTION
Undoubtedly the singular greatest success story of Indian Television. A small
production house changes the entire face of television and goes on to become
the leader of our nations media. Balaji Telefilms started as a small production
team for a television show called, “Hum Paanch” that was telecast on Zee TV in
1994. This was at the time when Balaji Telefilms was actually run by actor
Jitendra and his wife Shobha Kapoor. The production house became what it is
today after 2001 when the family’s daughter became the Creative Head of
Balaji telefilms. The production house reached new levels of success under the
leadership of Ekta Kapoor.

Balaji Telefilms was incorporated in 1994 and has redefined the Indian
television space in this period. Making a strong start with hit shows like “Hum
Paanch”, the company rose to unprecedented heights in the late 1990s and
2000s.
 
The satellite boom in India can in a sense be said to have been created and led
by Balaji. The performance of the Hindi television channels and the dominance
of the Hindi General Entertainment Channel was pioneered by Balaji content
and run successfully for over a decade, with blockbuster shows like “Kyunki
Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki” garnering unheard of
TRPs. The company has produced over 15,000 hours of television content since
its inception, including content in Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and
Malayalam.
 
Balaji also entered the motion picture business in the late 1990s, producing
and distributing a number of films.
 
Today, the company occupies a dominant space in the television content
creation space, with the No.1 show on Indian television to its credit and all of
its shows among the Top 50 on television. Balaji has also diversified itself into
all the 4 screens by bringing in new teams for the motion pictures, internet and
mobile space. The company has also evolved with the times and significantly
corporatized itself, bringing in a Group CEO and experienced professional team
for driving the future strategic direction of the company.
 
From a television content provider, they have evolved into a media
conglomerate with organizational divisions responsible for television, motion
pictures, internet and mobile.

EKTA KAPOOR
Ekta Jeetendra Kapoor is an Indian TV and film producer. She is the creative
head and Joint Managing Director of Balaji Telefilms, her production company.
She is the daughter of Hindi film actors Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor. Her
younger brother Tusshar Kapoor is also a Bollywood actor.

Ekta Kapoor has produced and co-produced numerous soap

opera, television series and movies. Her most famous television ventures have
been Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagii
Kay,Kahiin To Hoga and Kkavyanjali which started airing on STAR Plus. Since
then, the shows have continuously been among the top rated programs on
Indian television and generally being shown on Star Plus (a television channel
in India). Today, Most of her creations begin with the letter "k" due to her
superstition that it brings her good luck and fantastic reputation but most
recently she has decided to take away from "K" and has started some soap
operas with different letters as she did earlier in her career. Some of her other
popular creations are Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil, Kitani Mohabbat Hai Kya dil
mein hai, Kahe na Kahe, Kasamh Se, Pavitra Rishta, Bandini and Pyaar Ka
Bandhan. She has also done a lot of shows like "Kaun Jeetega bollywood ka
ticket" and thers on starplus. She has also produced five Bollywood movies out
of which Kyaa Kool Hai Hum starred by brother Tusshar Kapoor. After Kyaa
Kool Hai Hum, she also co-produced Shootout at Lokhandwala with White
Feather Films, Mission Istanbul.

Ekta Kapoor has produced several TV serials, most of which continue to air on
her first network STAR Plus but now only two of her serials still air on it. While
some of her other productions air on Sony Entertainment Television, Zee
TV and the new television channels 9X, NDTV Imagine and Colors TV. Balaji
telefilms has also produced the movie Love, Sex aur Dhoka which released in
March, 2010. She has also been parodied in movies such as Money Hai To
Honey Hai.

JEETENDRA
Jeetendra (born 7 April 1943) is a popular Indian actor.
Early life
Jeetendra was born Ravi Kapoor in Amritsar, Punjab in 1943 to Amarnath and
Krishna Kapoor.[1] His family were Punjabi. Ravi Kapoor was born in a business
family that dealt with imitation jewellery. While supplying jewellery to V.
Shantaram, he was cast as Sandhya's double in the 1959 movie "Navrang”

Career
He started in Bollywood in the late 1950s when filmmaker V. Shantaram gave
him a chance as actress Sandhya's double in Navrang (1959), but got his first
big break when Shantaram cast him as hero in Sehra in 1963 & then in Geet
Gaya Pattharon Ne (1964). Since then, he has appeared in almost 200 films.
Jeetendra came into the spotlight in 1967 with Ravikant Nagaich's Farz, which
went on to become a golden jubilee success. The tee shirt and white shoes he
picked up from a retail store for the "Mast Baharon Ka Main Aashiq" number in
Farz (sung by legendary Singer Mohd Rafi) became his trademark. His vigorous
dancing in films like Farz, and Banphool won him the epithet of the Jumping
Jackflash.
In the 1980s, Jitendra was frequently paired up with Sridevi or Jayapradha for
remakes of South Indian potboilers courtesy of Rama Rao Tatineni, K.
Bapayya and K. Raghavendra Rao; some of these films were produced by
Padmalaya Productions. Featuring elaborate sequences with colorful clay pots,
dozens of extras, electronic music by Bappi Lahiri, and lyrics by Indeewar,
movies like Justice Chaudhry (1982), Mawaali (1983), Himmatwala (1983),
Jaani Dushman, and Tohfa (1984) were huge hits despite low critical acclaim.
He recently made an appearance in a popular TV serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi
Bahu Thi as an old man. He was a judge of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, an Indian dance
competition on Sony Entertainment Television.
Personal life
Born in Amritsar Punjab, India. There he was friends with Rajesh Khanna who
was also born in Amritsar. Their mothers attended Kirtan at same place.
Jeetendra spent his childhood in Girgaum, Mumbai. He used to live in
Ramachandra Building in a middle class locality. He still cherishes his memories
there and visits the place during Ganapati festival every year. In her authorized
biography,Hema Malini claimed that they almost got married, but she backed
out. He then married his childhood sweetheart Shobha Kapoor, and has a son
who is also an actor, Tusshar Kapoor and a daughter, Ekta Kapoor, who
runs Balaji Telefilms. They producee popular TV serials
in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. They have also produced five Bollywood
films, two of which have Tusshar in the leading role. Jeetendra made a brief
appearance in one of his daughter's produced films Kucch To Hai (2002) where
he appeared alongside his son Tusshar.
Awards, honours and recognitions

 1998 - Guest of Honour Award at the 18th Ujala Cinema Express Awards 
 2000 - Lifetime Achievement Award in film personalities 
 2002 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
 2002 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zee Gold Bollywood Movie
Awards in New York.
 2004 - "Legend of Indian Cinema" Award at Atlantic City (United States).
 2005 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
 2007 - Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award 
 2008 - Sansui Television Lifetime Achievement Award 

SHOBHA KAPOOR MANAGING DIRECTOR:

Mrs. Kapoor has been instrumental in building the company from its small
beginnings in 1994 to India's largest television content company today. From
its inception, Mrs. Kapoor has been hands-on in the operational management
of the company, controlling on set activity, operational efficiency. Given her
wealth of experience, today, she works closely with the Group CEO in helping
him discharge his responsibilities. Her stellar work in creating the Balaji
organization and brand has resulted in a slew of awards, including CEO of the
Year (Indian Telly Awards), Businesswoman of the Year (The Economic Times),
and numerous Best Producer awards for television shows produced by Balaji.

TUSSHAR KAPOOR
Tusshar Kapoor born 20 November 1976 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) is
an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra andShobha
Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of
Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of
Business which is consistently ranked as one of the top business schools in the
world.
Tushar made his debut with Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai with heroine Kareena
Kapoor in 2001. The next two years followed with a list of box office flops,
although he was noted for acting alongside his father in the teen slasher
film Kucch To Hai (2003). He was recognized for his role as a shy boy who gains
the ability to become invisible in Gayab (2004).
He appeared in Khakee (2004) in which he starred with Amitabh Bachchan. He
performed in Shart opposite Gracy Singh and Amrita Arora. It's a triangular
romantic film. Then Ram Gopal Verma's Gaayab opposite Antara Mali. Its a
science fiction film. His few more films are their which are again Balaji
Productionand will be shortly directed by Satish Kaushik and Raj Kumar
Santoshi.

SHORT OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY DEPARTMENT HEADS

Akshay Chudasama:
Widely respected in industry circles for his deep insight into corporate law, Mr.
Chudasama is a partner at J Sagar Associates. He specialises in mergers and
acquisitions, consumer protection and dispute resolution.

Dhruv Kaji:
A highly respected Chartered Accountant with experience spanning over two
decades, Mr. Kaji is a financial advisor and strategic consultant. He was
associated with Raymond Ltd, and Pinesworth Holding Ltd.
Pradeep Sarda:
Chairman of the Sarda Group of Companies, Mr. Sarda possesses rich
experience across multiple industry verticals, including paper, engineering,
construction and real estate.

Puneet Kinra, Group Chief Executive Officer:

As Group CEO, Puneet is responsible for all businesses of Balaji including
Television, Motion Pictures and New Media. Having hired Puneet from
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2008 to define & execute the growth
strategy of the Group, Balaji has since hired reputed professionals,
restructured existing businesses and entered new businesses in the Media and
Entertainment vertical.
In addition, 'Alt Entertainment' and 'Hoonur' are two more initiatives of the
Company that Puneet has spearheaded in the last 2 years.
At PwC, Puneet was responsible for setting up the Corporate Finance and
Investment Banking practice in South India. With over 15 years of experience
in finance, deal advisory, target search/evaluation, structuring and cross
border transactions, Puneet has advised many corporate and private equity
players on transactions in Media, Telecom, Real Estate & Infrastructure,
Energy, Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, Pharma, Communications, Technology,
FMCG and Manufacturing sectors.
Puneet holds an MBA from The Australian Graduate School of Management
(AGSM), University of New South Wales.

Srinivasa Shenoy, Chief Financial Officer:

Over the past year, Srinivasa has substantially overhauled financial controls,
MIS processes, audit systems, computerisation and risk management
templates in the firm to a standard comparable to global companies. He has
also substantially beefed compliance processes at all levels.
Before Balaji, he was Business Head at Radio Mirchi (India's largest radio
station company), heading the Delhi office. He also has extensive work
experience at McDonald's and PwC. He holds a MBA from the Indian School of
Business, Hyderabad and is a rank holding Chartered Accountant.

Abhijit Nath, Vice-President, Risk & Investments:

Abhijit is responsible for identifying and implementing risk mitigating strategies
for all material transactions of the Group. He is deeply involved in new
strategic initiatives, especially in the motion picture business wherein every
film transaction is analyzed and approved by him.
Abhijit also works with the Group CEO on partnerships, leveraging his past
experience of the private equity and strategic finance worlds.
Prior to joining Balaji, Abhijit worked for RREEF, the private equity arm of
Deutsche Bank, and ICICI Venture, the largest private equity firm in India,
working on investments totalling over $ 300 million. He has also worked in
Deutsche Bank in investment banking and global markets.

Abhijit holds a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and
has an undergraduate degree in economics from Delhi University.

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
The Indian media and entertainment industry pegged at Rs 548 billion in 2008,
exhibited a growth of 12.5% over the previous year. This significant growth in
the market size is mainly witnessed due to an individual’s increasing propensity
for discretionary spending. Indian production houses are operating across
multiple platforms and are constantly unearthing the potential of under
penetrates geographies. Consequently, today they have built scale and are
attracting foreign media companies as well as investments. The market is
flooded with new content delivery platforms that occupy a significant position
in the distribution portfolio of players. However, in wake of the prevalent
economic slowdown that began in the last quarter of 2008, the scenario has
changed tremendously. The Indian media and distribution platform is
compounded by the greater need for accountability and measurability
demanded by advertisers today.
STRONG SUITS
Before hitting the economic slowdown hurdle, the media and entertainment
industry enjoyed a reputation of the fastest growing sectors of the Indian
economy. It caters to a vast customer base across the segments of television,
films and now extending to mobile, internet and other delivery modes.

Diversification is the key to the growth and sustenance of any industry today.
Media and entertainment is no exception. With the advent of superior
technology platforms the industry is exploring new platforms. Online
distribution channels, web-stores, multi and mega-plexes are various platforms
to showcase and provide for sound business propositions.

In addition to these, the DTH services have opened a whole new platform for
business. With the introduction of pay per view services, DTH has enabled the
content providers to make an entry into the homes of the consumers. TRAI’s
“must carry” regulations and control on pricing are however presently limiting
the scope of this business model.

THE BALAJI ADVANTAGE

Driven by an effective modus operandi, coupled with its inherent strengths,
Balaji Telefilms Limited is geared for sustainable, long-term growth. The
company’s experience and insight have enabled it to further hone its
capabilities and give itself the coveted extra edge in the marketplace.

The following characteristic strengths have enabled Balaji to surge ahead and
take an undisputable leadership position in the television area.
1. Supply Chain Management
2. Compelling Content Deliverer
3. Product Management
4. Talent Management
5. Stringent Internal Audit Procedures
6. An Efficient Management Team
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS OPPORTUNIITES
 Targeted Content  Strategic Alliances
 Creativity as a  Creativity as a
Disciplines Discipline
 Constant  Corporatization
Improversation  Exploring New
 Exploring new Genres
vistas  Shift from TV to
 Strong Movies
Management
 Skilled Talented
Pool
 Conducive
Environment

WEAKNESSES THREATS
 Lack of Scalibility  Competition from
 Over Dependence other Production
on Key Personnel Houses
 Difficult to Sustain  Plummeting Share
Success of Mass
Entertainment.
Strengths

 Strong creative team: The company’s serials accounted for 79%

of the aggregate TRP of the weekday prime time shows
featuring in the top 100 Hindi cable and satellite shows. Being
the leader in the Hindi mass entertainment space, accounting
for more than 40 of the top 100 programmes, some of its
popular serials have been on air for years now but still
dominate the TRP ratings. Balaji has also been very successful
in regional programming.
 Low overheads: Balaji’s budgeting discipline is responsible for a
strict control of costs. The budgeting discipline has the
following priorities. Each programme is appraised as a profit
center and costs are compared with the budgeted target across
every episode, artiste, location, and people expenses. Secondly,
project life cycle management comprises of a holistic
perspective of shooting schedules, scene wise artiste
requirements, ongoing shooting progress and final product
delivery before shooting commences. . Further, Balaji has
invested in captive sets, wherein the company has in house
sets, which helps in saving the hiring cost, and enhances
production quality. Also, the company has reduced its
dependence on vendor equipment by investing in sophisticated
lights; sound recording equipment resulting in substantial cost
savings. Balaji has two state of the art post production suites,
which accelerates the conversion of recorded material into
episodes and enhances the flexibility to review the produced
content with the objective of revision and improvement.

Weaknesses

 Over dependence on key personnel: Ekta Kapoor is the

creative director of Balaji and is chiefly responsible for the
company’s success. Although Balaji has a proper structured
creative team in place, it still heavily depends on Ekta Kapoor.
Balaji Telefilms evinces a lot of interest from aspiring actors
 who are eager to work with it. Initially the company doesn’t
have to pay high fees to these aspiring stars. However if any of
their actors becomes very popular then high fees have to be
paid to them. Besides this the popularity of the serial hinges on
the performance of these key actors to some extent and their
exit can hurt the TRP’s of the show.
 Difficult to sustain success: Balaji’s programmes accounted for
79% of the aggregate TRP of the weekday prime time shows
featuring in the top 100 Hindi cable and satellite shows. The
tastes of the viewers are fickle and it will be very difficult for
Balaji to sustain these high TRP’s leave alone improving them.
Thus Balaji’s impressive track record may prove to be its bane
in the future.
 Lack of scalability: Production of entertainment software is not
a very scalable business. The channels that Balaji services are
limited in number. Besides, talented directors, technicians,
artistes required for expanding operations are not easily
available. Most of the other production houses produce only
one or two serials at a time finding it very difficult to scale up
their level of operations.

Opportunities

 Growth opportunities: The penetration of television sets and

cable TV is very low in India. It is expected to increase due to
the rise in incomes and a decline in the prices of television.
Digitalization (CAS and DTH services) will increase cable
penetration from 70 m homes in 2006 to around 113 m homes
by 2011. The Indian television industry had a market size of US$
3.24 bn in 2005 and is expected to reach US$ 9.34 bn by 2010,
a CAGR of 24%. Advertisement spending in India is directly
linked to the growth in GDP. In view of the country’s projected
GDP growth, the country’s TV advertising market is expected to
grow from Rs 66 bn in 2006 to Rs 123 bn by 2011. (Source:
Balaji Annual report FY 07) All these developments will increase
 the broadcasters ability to spend on content, which augurs well
for content providers like Balaji.
 Entry of new players in the Hindi General entertainment
space: The Hindi general entertainment space will get more
competitive with the entry of NDTV, UTV, INX Media. The
broadcasters would try to maintain or increase their market
share by improving their quality of content. Thus the
broadcasters expenditure on content would increase. INX
media has requisitioned Balaji to produce a couple of shows for
it. Balaji’s programming hours would increase as well as its
realisations per hour should also continue to increase in the
future.

Threats

 Plummeting share of mass entertainment: Balaji has produced

many successful serials in the mass entertainment genre.
However, it has not been very successful in other programme
genres such as comedy shows, reality shows, music contests
that are getting increasingly popular and are telecast on prime
time. In fact, the share of mass entertainment channels in
terms of viewership and revenues is reducing (as seen from the
table below). If this trend amplifies in the future, then it can
adversely affect the profits of Balaji.

Share of Indian TV viewership and advertising revenues

(%) 2001 2003 2005
Viewershi Revenue Viewershi Revenue Viewershi Revenue
Channnel genre
p s p s p s
Mass
54 59 36 47 38 41
entertainment
Regional
35 15 40 18 37 25
language
News channels 1 10 3 10 7 12
Hindi film
3 5 4 5 8 6
channels
English
2 4 2 4 2 4
Entertainment
Sports 2 3 10 13 5 7
Infotainmnet/Ki
2 2 3 2 2 3
ds
Music channels 1 2 2 1 1 2
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: TAM and ADEX

 Competition from other production houses: Balaji is facing

increased competition form other production houses such as
Creative Eye Limited, UTV Software Communications Limited,
Maverick Productions, White Leaf Productions. All these
production houses are competing for the same prime time slots
on limited number of popular Hindi channels.

MY EVALUATION
In the times of tremendous competition it takes great courage and
innovation to come up with something that changes the face of
television all around. Balaji Telefilms is the greatest example of how
to single-handedly change the idea of prime time entertainment is
people’s mind. The greatest success story that Indian Television has
ever seen, Balaji Telefilms today is at the epitome of success and
shows what great management and creativity can result into.

Balaji Telefilms was incorporated in 1994 and has redefined the

Indian television space in this period. Making a strong start with hit
shows like “Hum Paanch”, the company rose to unprecedented
heights in the late 1990s and 2000s.
 
The satellite boom in India can in a sense be said to have been
created and led by Balaji. The performance of the Hindi television
channels and the dominance of the Hindi General Entertainment
Channel was pioneered by Balaji content and run successfully for
over a decade, with blockbuster shows like “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi
Bahu Thi” and “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki” garnering unheard of TRPs.
The company has produced over 15,000 hours of television content
since its inception, including content in Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada
and Malayalam.

Today, the company occupies a dominant space in the television

content creation space, with the No.1 show on Indian television to its
credit and all of its shows among the Top 50 on television. Balaji has
also diversified itself into all the 4 screens by bringing in new teams
for the motion pictures, internet and mobile space. The company has
also evolved with the times and significantly corporatized itself,
bringing in a Group CEO and experienced professional team for
driving the future strategic direction of the company.
 
From a television content provider, they have evolved into a media
conglomerate with organizational divisions responsible for television,
motion pictures, internet and mobile.

Balaji Telefilms is the greatest success story the Indian Television,

India Media has ever seen.