Subhash Ghai Promoter & Chairman, Mukta Arts BEST KNOWN FOR: Blockbusters like Hero, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Taal and Pardes THE ROAD AHEAD: A training institute called Whistling Woods; a music label, Mukta Music, has been just launched; plans to focus on distribution and exhibition, as well as production; closely eyeing new areas like publishing (trade journals), radio and television

Think Bollywood and the image that will flash before most eyes is that of a hero and heroine prancing around trees in exotic locales, lip-syncing a (usually) bawdy song. Yawn; so what's new? A lot, actually. Away from the public gaze, there's a radical transformation sweeping across tinsel town, which, in a few years, can change the face of the Indian film industry.

When UTV Motion Pictures released its most recent film, Hattrick, in the theatres, it also simultaneously released it online, through rajshri.com, the online portal of the Rajshri Group. The first download for the film was from Mexico and the second from South Korea-not the most obvious markets for a Bollywood film, but it confirmed, if confirmation was needed, the reach and demand for Hindi films in distant corners of the globe. "I'm changing the way Indians watch films. The objective is to take Bollywood to a global audience," says a visibly excited Rajjat A. Barjatya, Managing Director, Rajshri Media, which owns rajshri.com. Barjatya, a Harvard University alumnus, launched his site in November last year to coincide with the release of Rajshri Production's Vivah. Other old production houses like the late Ramanand Sagar's Sagar Arts and B.R. Chopra's B.R. Films are also reinventing themselves.

Rajjat A. Barjatya Managing Director, Rajshri Media BEST KNOWN FOR: Hits like Dosti, Uphaar, Geet Gata Chal, Maine Pyaar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun THE ROAD AHEAD: Leverage rajshri.com by selling more films (not just its own) online; make serials exclusively for the internet and mobiles; aiming for 1 million hours of content on its site in five years

Welcome to the new Bollywood, where the name of the game is now innovation. In the fast changing world of entertainment, these old production houses, often under the management of second and third generation scions of the founders, are becoming nimble-footed and are looking hungrily for new business opportunities and alternative revenue models. And slowly, from this melting pot of ideas, successes and failures is emerging a Hollywood-style, professionally run, studio model of film production. "For Vivah, we had 6,000 downloads at $9.99 (Rs 419.58) a pop. The numbers may be small, but I look at it as a huge step for the Indian film industry," says Barjatya. On the anvil is a mobile portal. "In five years, we will have one million hours of content on the site," he says. From the current level of 6,000 hours, that clearly spells a new beginning for this old banner. Besides, Barjatya is talking of putting television serials on the internet. "We are looking at having 90 episodes of three minutes each in the first phase of the project. It will be webisodes on the internet and mobisodes on the mobile," he says. And he is not the only one who is busy.

Yash Chopra Chairman, Yash Raj Films BEST KNOWN FOR: Huge hits like Deewar, Trishul and DDLJ THE ROAD AHEAD: Adopting the studio model; will have five releases in 2007 from five different directors; a new studio in western Mumbai is up and running; a sharper focus on distribution; merchandising and licensing are new areas being looked at

For Sagar Arts, where the third generation of the eponymous founding family is at work, 2007 marked its return to film production after over 20 years. It released 1971, made on a budget of Rs 10 crore, on March 9 this year. "We will produce 4-5 films every year," says Amrit Sagar, a third generation family member and director of 1971. The return to filmmaking comes after its huge success in making TV serials-Ramayan, Shri Krishna, Sai Baba and Alif Laila are a part of its vast library.

B.R. Chopra Promoter, B.R. Films BEST KNOWN FOR: Films like Waqt, Humraaz, Dhund, Insaaf ka Tarazu and Gumrah. Mahabharat (TV serial) was also from the BR banner THE ROAD AHEAD: Animation; the first animation film is slated for release next Diwali; expand distribution reach, overseas and in India; will produce Mahabharat for the big screen; aims to produce around 15 films over the next three years; a music label, a larger presence on television and a new studio are in the works

Then, the group is also finalising its plans of entering the theme park business. "We will launch our first theme park this year," says Sagar Theme Parks' CEO Shiv Sagar. He plans to have nine 100-acre theme parks, including ones in Mumbai and Baroda, each costing Rs 100 crore. "The revenues will come from entry fees, food courts and merchandise," he explains. These parks will have mostly mythology-based themes and there could be an animated Ramayan to explain mythology to Indian kids. Sagar is also working on a plan to build a film city-which will be a one-stop shop for filmmakers-in Mumbai. "The way I see it, we will increase our television content to nine hours every day from four-and-a-half hours today. And we may also set up a music company," says Sagar Arts' Director Prem Sagar who is Ramanand Sagar's son.

The common thread running through these plans of different production houses is diversification within the overall remit of the entertainment and media industry. B.R. Films, another well-established name in the business, is in the midst of a significant transformation. "For the first time in almost 30 years, we will be getting an outside director to make films under our banner. Over the next three years, we should have about 12-15 releases," says B.R. Films' Group CEO Sanjay Bhutiani. Also on the anvil is a foray into animation films, the first of which will be ready for release by Diwali next year. Then, there's a plan to make a two-part film out of Mahabharat, which it turned into a blockbuster television serial in the 1980s. "The budget for the film will be around $40 million (Rs 168 crore). On television, too, we will have 4-6 products per year," says Bhutiani. "Our USP over the years has been providing great content. In the next 18 months, we will have a full-fledged studio in operation; and in five years, this will be a very professional organisation," he adds.

Studio Model

Prem Sagar Director, Sagar Arts BEST KNOWN FOR: Ramayan (TV serial) and films like Arzoo, Geet, Charas and Lalkar THE ROAD AHEAD: A return to film production (Salma was the last film he produced, in the mid-80s); a film city for filmmakers; finalising plans for nine theme parks; looking for a wider presence across channels on television

The emergence of the studio model is arguably the most significant development in the industry over the last few years. Yash Raj Films, the banner that perfected the model, has also gained the most in the process. Consider this: of the last 10 films from Yash Raj Films, only one, Veer-Zaara, was directed by Yash Chopra himself. Last year's biggest grossers, Fanaa and Dhoom-2-which grossed $36 million (Rs 151.2 crore) and $28 million (Rs 117.6 crore), respectively, globally-were directed by others.

Yash Raj Films now straddles the entire cinema value chain-from filmmaking to distribution to owning a music label-and its stringent cost-control and global reach have made it a money-spinner and the Bollywood label to watch out for. Its new studio, YRF Studios, which is now up and running in western Mumbai, has taken the studio model to a higher level.

Chopra has always spoken of having an "integrated entertainment company" on the lines of a 20th Century Fox or a Warner Brothers Entertainment. This year, his company has five releases lined up, and not a single one is directed by Chopra himself. "Our commitment to the studio style of functioning allows us to make each offering different, though they are being released at very close intervals," says the veteran producer-director.

Another producer who is sold on the studio model is Subhash "Showman" Ghai. "Between 2008 and 2009, we will produce 6-10 films each year and will ramp this up to 50 films a year by 2012," he says. His banner, Mukta Arts, reaped rich benefits when it decided to produce Iqbal. "When I make a film, I'm responsible for everything. But today, I can depend on professionals," he adds. On the agenda is an increased focus on Mukta Music, his recently-launched music label, distribution and exhibition. That apart, Whistling Woods, his training institute housed in Film City in western Mumbai, now takes up a large part of his time. It is from here that Ghai is looking to get in new talent. Meanwhile, he is also considering forays into publishing, television and radio.

But there are some who are bucking this trend. Producer-director Rakesh Roshan believes that the age-old practice of independent filmmakers making one film at a time is working quite well and doesn't wish to experiment with anything else. "Over the next five years, I do not see this changing. I will continue to make one or two films every one-and-a-half years," he says. Empirical evidence suggests that Roshan's formula also works. In 2006, his banner, Filmkraft Productions, released Krrish, which was the biggest hit of the year. His latest project, Krazzy 4, will be produced by him, but directed by his former assistant, Raja Sen. Roshan clarifies that this is a one-off project and does not mark his entry into the studio model of filmmaking.

But with the Barjatyas, the Chopras and the Ghais of the world ushering in a new phase in Bollywood, Roshan could be forced to quit playing contrarian and flow with the tide. The consensus is that the studio model, with professional managements and multiple revenue streams, is the good idea whose time has come. Bollywood has willy-nilly emerged as the platform from which an emerging India is projecting its soft power across the seven seas. And it is the new avatars of the old and established production houses that have taken it upon themselves to take the process forward.