UTV Motion Pictures (also known as Disney UTV from 2012–13) was the feature film unit of UTV Software Communications founded by Ronnie Screwvala and Zarina Screwvala in 1996 as UTV Motion Pictures Plc., the film distribution division of UTV Software Communications. It was one of the leading film studios in India and one of the largest production studios in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. The studio's activities spanned creative development, production, marketing, distribution, licensing, merchandising, and worldwide syndication of films in Indian territories. It was also a distribution label of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

for feature films produced by

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. UTV Motion Pictures had a library of domestic regional films and animation productions alongside select international productions with the studio moving into film production in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

, and further expanding in Hollywood in partnership with studios such as

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

and

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

. In July 2017, Disney shut down UTV Motion Pictures, shortly after the release of the film ''

Jagga Jasoos ''Jagga Jasoos'' () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language musical adventure comedy film written and directed by Anurag Basu, and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Basu and Ranbir Kapoor. It stars Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, and tells the story of a ...

'', and planned to focus on its Hollywood films distribution and television and licensing and merchandising businesses through the banner, effectively pulling the plug on its Hindi film production.

Film productions and distribution

Films produced by UTV Motion Pictures

UTV Spotboy

The following films were produced under the UTV Spotboy banner.

Films only distributed

Unreleased/shelved films

* ''Hook Ya Crook'' * '' Alibaba Aur 41 Chor'' * '' Shoebite''

International films distribution in India

Walt Disney Studios films in India

UTV's distribution relations with Disney first began when in 2005, Miramax Films, then owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, sold distribution rights to several films of their catalog in a 10-year deal; however it is currently unknown whether this deal continued even when Miramax was sold to

Filmyard Holdings Filmyard Holdings, LLC was an American pure holding company and is the former parent company of Miramax. They operated in between the years of 2010 to 2016. Colony Capital and Qatar Investment Authority own the studio. Rob Lowe is an investor ...

. In December 2008, following their purchase of a majority stake in UTV,

, which would later acquire the entirety of UTV Motion Pictures through UTV Software Communications in 2012, handed over exclusive distribution rights to their films in the Indian subcontinent, starting with

' '' Bedtime Stories''. UTV Motion Pictures became the exclusive distributor for all Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures releases for South Asian territories from 2013 onward. Distribution rights to 20th Century Fox (now

) and Fox Searchlight Pictures (now

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

) films continued to be handled by Fox Star Studios (now Star Studios) until late 2019 with '' The Art of Racing in the Rain'', when

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

began releasing the studios' films internationally and thus UTV acquired the distribution rights to their films in the Indian subcontinent, starting with '' Terminator: Dark Fate'' until 2024 with '' Alien: Romulus''.

Non-Disney international films

References

External links

UTV Software Communications Ltd.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utv Motion Pictures Indian companies established in 1996 Mass media companies established in 1996 Film distributors of India Film production companies based in Mumbai Film studios in Mumbai Film production companies of India Disney production studios UTV Software Communications Producers who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award