'The Spy Universe is going to be a big focus area for Yash Raj Films'

Following a series of box office flops in 2022, since the reopening of theatres post-covid, Yash Raj Films, one of the oldest and reputed studios in India, has finally tasted success with action drama Pathaan and is now increasingly focusing on the spy universe and franchise films, chief executive Akshaye Widhani said in an interview.

- Gaurav Laghate & Lata Jha

Widhani, who is only the second chief executive of the group in its 50-year-long history and a confidant of chairman Aditya Chopra, spoke about balancing creativity and business and why the studio does not wish to share intellectual properties (IPs) with others. He also discussed the plans behind allocating ₹500 crore for web series. Edited excerpts:

After the lull following the covid-led disruptions and finally the success of Pathaan, how are you focusing on business and creativity?

We are storytellers by heart and have been for the last five decades. We will always continue to be creative first. It’s not a numbers game for us. We’ve learned post-pandemic that it’s not about how many films you release but the kind of films you put out. We suffered last year — 2022 was a tough year. A lot of the films were designed for the pre-pandemic period when audience tastes were different. That changed, and things have evolved rapidly since then. Going ahead, the Spy Universe (a universe of interconnected films whose plots will cross over, including existing and upcoming instalments of Pathaan, Tiger and War) is going to be a very big focus area, and franchise films will take up a major portion of our theatrical slate. At the same time, we are going to continue to look for stories we feel can command space in a theatrical environment. We have only announced Tiger 3 for now but are getting ready to lock our slate for the coming years. We will make announcements in due course, and the Spy Universe is going to become a larger part of our strategy.

Is it in line with the global trend?