# Balaji Motion Pictures

Balaji Motion Pictures is an Indian film production and distribution company, subsidiary company of Balaji Telefilms Limited, established by Shobha Kapoor and her daughter Ekta Kapoor. Located in Mumbai, it produces and distributes Hindi films. The chairman of the company is former Bollywood actor, Jeetendra Kapoor. In 2017, the company released its biography, Kingdom of the Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms.

## Operations

Balaji Motion Pictures is based in Mumbai in the Balaji House on New Link Road, Andheri West, Mumbai. It operates from its head office in Andheri West and has studios in Film City and other locations in Mumbai. In terms of studio facilities, Balaji Motion Pictures is one of the largest film production houses in Mumbai.

## History

Balaji Motion Pictures was set up in 2001 by Hindi television producer Ekta Kapoor with the purpose of venturing into film production. She produced Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta, released in 2001 with Govinda and Sushmita Sen in the lead roles. The film was a failure at the box office, collecting ₹13 crore (US$1.5 million). Later, the company produced Kucch To Hai (2003), Krishna Cottage (2004) and Koi Aap Sa (2005), all of which did not fare well at the box office.
In 2005, the company produced and released Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, which grossed ₹21.5 crore (US$2.5 million) and made it to the top 10 films of 2005.
In 2007, the company co-produced Shootout at Lokhandwala with Sanjay Gupta. It was a critical and commercial success, collecting ₹68.17 crore (US$7.8 million) worldwide.
In 2008, the company produced and released C Kkompany, which was a critical and commercial failure. In the same year, the company co-produced Mission Istanbul and EMI – Liya Hai Toh Chukana Parega with Sunil Shetty. Both films failed critically and commercially. In the same year, the company acquired the distribution rights of Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) and Sarkar Raj (2008) with a deal of almost ₹40 crore (US$4.6 million). The films were both commercially successful, thereby making a step further for Balaji.
In 2010, the company's sub-branded ALT Entertainment, a youth-focused brand, produced a low-budget film, Love Sex aur Dhokha, which was a sleeper hit at the box office. In the same year, the company released Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, which was also a critical and commercial success. This film marked the company's successful entry into film industry.
In 2011, the company marked its entry into Marathi films by producing Taryanche Bait. The film was a critical and commercial hit and won many accolades including three awards for Best Film. The company also released Shor in the City, a small-budget critically acclaimed film. The same year also saw the release of Ragini MMS, co-produced with Amit Kapoor and Sidhartha M. Jain. The film won the Stardust Award for Best Film, and Ekta Kapoor announced the sequel of the film would be released in 2013, starring Indo-Canadian actress Sunny Leone. The company released The Dirty Picture starring Vidya Balan on 2 December 2011. This proved to be a major blockbuster and was regarded as one of the best films of 2011, winning Vidya Balan her first National Award and numerous acting awards of 2011 for her performance. The film won six awards for Best Film.
In 2012, the company released its first adult comedy, Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum, sequel to the 2005 hit Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, which was slammed by critics but was a box office success, made on a budget of ₹13 crore (US$1.5 million) and collecting ₹33 crore (US$3.8 million) in its first week.
In April 2013, the company released the horror film Ek Thi Daayan, co-produced with Vishal Bhardwaj. It received positive reviews from critics and received 3 out of 5 on average. Jinson John of Indian Box Office stated "Ek Thi Daayan is not that regular Bhootiya story, the plot stands out of them all, it's surely is an experimental plot, but not written by an idiot." The film opened at around 30–40% occupancy, with a better opening in multiplexes rather than single screens, netting around ₹18.07 crore (US$2.1 million) over the first weekend.
In May 2013, the company released Shootout at Wadala. The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews. Bollywood Hungama rated the film with stars whereas The Times of India rated it stars. Made on a shoestring budget of ₹26 crore (US$3.0 million), the film grossed ₹54.6 crore (US$6.2 million) worldwide. The film was declared "average" by Box Office India. In July 2013, the company released Lootera, starring Sonakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh as leads. It opened to positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated the film stars, saying, "On the whole, LOOTERA is an intrinsically earnest and profoundly heartwarming story that stays in your heart. An absolute must for those who love romantic films or are romantic at heart. This one's a cinematic gem!" Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave it stars and noted, "Lootera is a gorgeous, gorgeous film, one that uses its period setting affectionately, with loving detail, and not exploitative as our cinema wont to do." Meena Iyer of The Times of India assigned the film stars and noted, "Lootera is a love saga of yore... You may find this film boring if state-of-the-art, slow romance is not your idea of a movie outing." The film was made on a budget of ₹27 crore (US$3.1 million) and netted ₹38 crore (US$4.3 million) worldwide in its lifetime.
In August 2013, the company released Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, the sequel to one of its most successful films, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. The film opened to negative reviews from critics, some of whom slammed it for its poor drafting and execution of storyline. The film was made on a high budget of ₹85 crore (US$9.7 million) to ₹100 crore (US$11 million) and collected ₹70 crore (US$8.0 million) worldwide, thereby netting a loss, and was declared a "flop".
On February 28, 2014, the company released Shaadi Ke Side Effects starring Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan. It opened to positive reviews and collected ₹5.7 crore (US$650,000) on its first day. It grossed ₹21.2 crore (US$2.4 million) in its opening weekend. It grossed ₹70 crore (US$8.0 million) worldwide during its lifetime run and was declared "below average" by Box Office India.
On March 21, 2014, the company released Ragini MMS 2, starring Sunny Leone, the sequel to another successful film of the company, Ragini MMS. Made on a budget of ₹18 crore (US$2.1 million), the film opened to mixed reviews from critics and went on to collect ₹65 crore (US$7.4 million). The film was a major commercial success and was declared a "hit" by Box Office India.
On April 4, 2014, the company released Main Tera Hero, starring Varun Dhawan as the protagonist, directed by David Dhawan. It received positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated it stars, and wrote "On the whole, Main Tera Hero is a wild, wacky, madcap entertainer that has the unmistakable stamp of the master of entertainers – David Dhawan. An over-the-top plot, humor quotient and performances are three aces the film stands on. The film should work well with admirers of typical Bollywood masalathons, also because Varun Dhawan pulls off the act with flamboyance and bowls you over with an uproarious act in this zany entertainer. Go, have fun and laugh out loud!" Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India gave the movie stars, saying, "Main Tera Hero is a pav bhaji picture, quick, spicy, hot. It has the depth of a comic strip but it also has its neon-shaded fun. For those who want a light laugh, here's your boy." Made on a budget of ₹42.5 crore (US$4.9 million), the movie went on to collect ₹77 crore (US$8.8 million) worldwide and was declared a "hit" by Box Office India.
On May 30, 2014, the company released the small-budget film Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi, co-produced by Bejoy Nambiar. It opened to mixed reviews from critics and also failed to collect at the box office. It collected a mere ₹3 crore (US$340,000), thereby recovering its costs.
In June 2014, the company released Ek Villain co-starring celebrities Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh. It opened up to positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama awarded the movie 4/5 stars and wrote, "On the whole, Ek Villain is a stylish, spellbinding and terrifying edge-of-the-seat thriller. It's a step forward in this genre, without a doubt. A sure-shot winner!" Radita Tandon from Filmfare gave the film stars and noted that, "Though indulgent in parts, Ek Villain packs in a punch. Copy of a Korean film or not, it's 'good' paisa vasool entertainment. Make it your weekend watch." Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave the film stars, stating that "You cannot fault the scale of Ek Villain or berate its lead star cast. But you wish you could celebrate this thriller like you did Suri's last movie outing Aashiqui 2." The film, made on a budget of ₹35 crore (US$4.0 million), went on to collect ₹105.05 crore (US$12 million) in India and grossed ₹135 crore (US$15 million) (approx.) with a distributor share of ₹49.75 crore (US$5.7 million) itself in India. The film was declared a "super hit" by Box Office India.

## Film production

List of Balaji Motion Pictures film productions :
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Cast | Languages | Genre | Notes |
| 2001 | Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta | David Dhawan | Govinda, Sushmita Sen, Rambha | Hindi | Comedy | |
| 2003 | Kucch To Hai | Anurag BasuAnil V. Kumar | Tusshar Kapoor, Esha Deol, Anita Hassanandani, Yash Tonk | Hindi | Horror | |
| 2004 | Krishna Cottage | Santram Verma | Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar,Anita Hassanandani Reddy | Hindi | Horror | |
| 2005 | Kyaa Kool Hai Hum | Sangeeth Sivan | Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Isha Koppikar, Neha Dhupia | Hindi | ComedyThriller | |
| 2005 | Koi Aap Sa | Partho Mitra | Aftab Shivdasani, Anita Hassanandani, Dipannita Sharma, Himanshu Malik | Hindi | Romance | |
| 2007 | Shootout at Lokhandwala | Apoorva Lakhia | Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Arbaaz Khan, Amrita Singh, Tusshar Kapoor, Rohit Roy | Hindi | Crime | |
| 2008 | Mission Istanbul | Apoorva Lakhia | Vivek Oberoi, Shriya Saran, Zayed Khan | Hindi | Crime | Co-produced with Popcorn Motion Pictures |
| 2008 | C Kkompany | Sachin Yardi | Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Raima Sen | Hindi | Comedy | |
| 2008 | EMI – Liya Hai Toh Chukana Parega | Saurabh Kabra | Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Urmila Matondkar, Malaika Arora Khan, Aashish Chaudhary, Neha Oberoi | Hindi | Social | Co-produced with Popcorn Motion Pictures |
| 2010 | Love Sex Aur Dhokha | Dibakar Banerjee | Anshuman Jha, Nushrat Bharucha, Sandeep Bose, Rajkummar Rao | Hindi | Found footage | |
| 2010 | Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai | Milan Luthria | Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai | Hindi | Gangster | |
| 2011 | Taryanche Bait | Kiran Yadnyopavit | Vinay Apte, Sachin Khedekar, Ashwini Giri, Ashmita Joglekar | Marathi | Drama | |
| 2011 | Shor in the City | Raj NidimoruKrishna D.K. | Sendhil Ramamurthy, Tusshar Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi | Hindi | Drama | |
| 2011 | Ragini MMS | Pawan Kripalani | Rajkummar Rao, Kainaz Motivala | Hindi | HorrorThriller | Co-produced with iRock Films |
| 2011 | The Dirty Picture | Milan Luthria | Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah | Hindi | Biographic | |
| 2012 | Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum | Sachin Yardi | Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Neha Sharma | Hindi | Comedy | |
| 2013 | Ek Thi Daayan | Kannan Iyer | Emraan Hashmi, Konkana Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi, Kalki Koechlin | Hindi | Thriller | Co-produced with VB Pictures |
| 2013 | Shootout at Wadala | Sanjay Gupta | Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Kangana Ranaut, Manoj Bajpayee, Tusshar Kapoor | Hindi | GangsterCrime | Prequel and Sequel to Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007)Co-produced with White Feather Films |
| 2013 | Lootera | Vikramaditya Motwane | Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha | Hindi | Romance | Co-produced with Phantom Films |
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time In Mumbaai Dobara | Milan Luthria | Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha | Hindi | CrimeRomance | Sequel to Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010) |
| 2014 | Shaadi Ke Side Effects | Saket Chaudhary | Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan | Hindi | Romcom | Sequel to Pyaar Ke Side EffectsCo-produced with Pritish Nandy Communications |
| 2014 | Ragini MMS 2 | Bhushan Patel | Sunny Leone | Hindi | HorrorThriller | Sequel to Ragini MMS |
| 2014 | Main Tera Hero | David Dhawan | Varun Dhawan, Ileana D'Cruz, Nargis Fakhri | Hindi | Romance | |
| 2014 | Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi | Aman Sachdeva | Siddharth Gupta, Simran Kaur Mundi | Hindi | ComedyRomance | Co-produced with Bejoy Nambiar |
| 2014 | Ek Villain — There's one in every love story | Mohit Suri | Sidharth Malhotra, Ritesh Deshmukh, Shraddha Kapoor | Hindi | RomanceThriller | |
| 2016 | Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 | Umesh Ghadge | Tusshar Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Mandana Karimi | Hindi | Adult comedy | |
| 2016 | Azhar | Tony D'Souza | Emraan Hashmi, Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai, Lara Dutta | Hindi | Biopic | Co-produced with Sony Pictures Networks |
| 2016 | Udta Punjab | Abhishek Chaubey | Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh | Hindi | CrimeDrama | Co-produced with Phantom Films |
| 2016 | Great Grand Masti | Indra Kumar | Vivek Oberoi, Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela | Hindi | Adult comedy | |
| 2016 | A Flying Jatt | Remo D'Souza, Priyadarshan | Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez | Hindi | Superhero,Romance | |
| 2017 | Half Girlfriend | Mohit Suri | Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor | Hindi | Romance | |
| 2017 | Super Singh | Anurag Singh | Diljit Dosanjh, Sonam Bajwa | Punjabi | Superhero,Drama | Co-produced with Brat Films |
| 2018 | Veere Di Wedding | Shashanka Ghosh | Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar, Shikha Talsania, Sumeet Vyas | Hindi | Comedy-drama | Co-produced with Anil Kapoor Films |
| 2018 | Laila Majnu | Sajid Ali | Mir Sarwar, Avinash Tiwary, Abrar Qazi, Saransh, Tripti Dimri, Ruchika Kapoor | Hindi | Romance, Drama | Co-production with PI Pictures |
| 2019 | Judgementall Hai Kya | Prakash Kovelamudi | Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao | Hindi | Comedy, Thriller | Co-produced with Karma Media and Entertainmentand ALT Entertainment |
| 2019 | Jabariya Jodi | Prashant Singh | Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra | Hindi | Romance, Comedy | Co-produced with Karma Media and Entertainmentand ALT Entertainment |
| 2019 | Dream Girl | Raaj Shaandilyaa | Ayushman Khurrana, Nushrat Bharucha | Hindi | Comedy, Humour | Co-produced with ALT Entertainmentand Zee Studios |
| 2022 | Ek Villain Returns | Mohit Suri | John Abraham, Arjun Kapoor, Disha Patani, Tara Sutaria | Hindi | Thriller | |
| 2022 | Goodbye | Vikas Bahl | Amitabh Bachchan, Rashmika Mandanna | Hindi | Drama | |
| 2022 | Dobaaraa | Anurag Kashyap | Taapsee Pannu | Hindi | Thriller | |
| 2023 | Dream Girl 2 | Raaj Shaandilyaa | Ayushmann Khurrana, Ananya Panday, Paresh Rawal, Seema Pahwa, Manjot Singh, Vijay Raaz, Annu Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Asrani | Hindi | Comedy | |
| 2023 | Thank You for Coming | Karan Boolani | Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Dolly Singh, Kusha Kapila, Shibani Bedi | Hindi | Social Comedy | |
| 2024 | Crew | Rajesh A Krishnan | Tabu, Kareena Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Diljit Dosanjh | Hindi | heist Comedy Drama | |
| 2024 | Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 | Dibakar Banerjee | Paritosh Tiwari,Bonita Rajpurohit, Abhinav Singh, Swastika Mukherjee, Mouni Roy, Uorfi Javed | Hindi | Anthology drama | |
| 2024 | The Buckingham Murders | Hansal Mehta | Kareena Kapoor, Rukku Nahar, Keith Allen, Ash Tandon, Jonathan Nyati | Hindi | Mystery Thriller | Premiere at the 67th BFI London Film Festival |
| 2024 | Binny And Family | Sanjay Tripathi | Rajesh Kumar, Charu Shankar, Pankaj Kapur, Himani Shivpuri | Hindi | Comedy Satire | Co-produced with Mahaveer Jain Films and Waveband Productions |
| 2024 | Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video | Raaj Shaandilyaa | Rajkumar Rao, Tripti Dimri | Hindi | Comedy | Co-produced by T-Series, Kathavachak Films and Wakaoo Films |
| 2024 | The Sabarmati Report | Dheeraj Sarna (Replaced Ranjan Chandel) | Vikrant Massey, Raashii Khanna, Riddhi Dogra | Hindi | Thriller Drama | Co-Produced by Vikir Films Production and Vipin Agnihotri Films |
| Released on OTT Platforms |||||||
| 2020 | Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare | Alankrita Shrivastava | Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhumi Pednekar | Hindi | Comedy, satire | Released on Netflix |
| 2021 | Pagglait | Umesh Bist | Sanya Malhotra, Shruti Sharma, Ashlesha Thakur | Hindi | Comedy | Released on Netflix |
| 2022 | Freddy | Shashanka Ghosh | Kartik Aaryan, Alaya F | Hindi | Thriller | Released on Disney+ Hotstar |
| 2023 | U Turn | Arif Khan | Alaya F | Hindi | Thriller | Released on ZEE5 |
| 2023 | Kathal | Yashowardhan Mishra | Sanya Malhotra, Anant V Joshi, Vijay Raaz | Hindi | Social Drama | Released on Netflix |
| 2023 | Jaane Jaan | Sujoy Ghosh | Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma | Hindi | Crime Thriller | Released on Netflix |

### Upcoming films

List of Balaji Motion Pictures upcoming film productions :
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Cast | Languages | Genre |
| Under the banner BALAJI MOTION PICTURES |||||||
| 2026 | Vrushubha | Nanda Kishore | Mohanlal | Malayalam Telugu | Historical Fiction |
| 2026 | Bhooth Bangla | Priyadarshan | Akshay Kumar, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Wamiqa Gabbi, Keerthy Suresh, Mithila Palkar | Hindi | Horror Comedy |

## Film distribution

List of Balaji Motion Pictures film distributions :
| # | Year | Title | Director |
| 1 | 2007 | Darling | Ram Gopal Varma |
| 2 | 2007 | Bhool Bhulaiyaa | Priyadarshan |
| 3 | 2008 | Sarkar Raj | Ram Gopal Varma |
| 4 | 2013 | Vishwaroop | Kamal Haasan |
| 5 | 2017 | Lipstick Under My Burkha | Alankrita Shrivastava |
| 6 | 2022 | Jersey | Gowtam Tinnanuri |