Yash Raj Films

Yash Raj Films (YRF) is an Indian film production and distribution company founded by filmmaker Yash Chopra in 1970. Since 2012, it has been led by his son Aditya Chopra. The company mainly produces and distributes Hindi films.

History

In 1970, YRF was founded by Yash Raj Chopra, a veteran director and producer in the Indian film industry.

YRF Studios

In 2005, Chopra built YRF Studios in Mumbai. In 2006, The first film shot at YRF Studios was the romantic thriller '' Fanaa''. Since then, several notable films have been shot at YRF Studios, including '' Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (2006), '' Partner'' (2007), (2007), '' Dostana'' (2008), '' Wanted'' (2009), '' 3 Idiots'' (2009), '' Dabangg'' (2010), ''Bodyguard'' (2011), '' Ra.One'' (2011), '' Agneepath'' (2012), '' Chennai Express'' (2013), '' Jai Ho'' (2014), and '' PK'' (2014). The studio consists of six floors and spans 20 acres. YRF Studios has also been rented out for other film and television productions, including '' 10 Ka Dum'' and '' Kaun Banega Crorepati'' for Sony Entertainment Television, as well as '' Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?'', '' Koffee With Karan,'' and ''Satyamev Jayate'' for STAR India.

YRF Distributors

YRF since launching their distribution arm, has not just distributed films produced by them but also but also several films made by other production companies, within India as well as overseas, which includes a variety of independent films and Parallel Cinema productions such as '' Godmother'' (1999),
'' Zubeidaa'' (2001), '' Maqbool'' (2004),
'' Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' (2004),
'' My Brother Nikhil'' (2005), '' Mangal Pandey: The Rising'' (2005) and '' Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara'' (2005).
YRF Distributors released several mainstream commercial films such as '' Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' (1998), '' Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai'' (2000), '' Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...'' (2001), '' Koi... Mil Gaya'' (2003), '' Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (2003), ''Black'' (2005), '' Krrish'' (2006),
'' Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (2006),
'' Dostana'' (2008),
'' All The Best: Fun Begins'' (2009),
'' Happy New Year'' (2014),
'' Piku'' (2015),
'' De De Pyaar De'' (2019), among others.
In recent years, YRF has distributed successful films like '' Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar'' (2023), '' Laapataa Ladies'' (2024), '' Chhaava'' (2025).
While they mostly distribute Hindi films, they also have distributed a few regional films in various languages.
In 2013, the company's distribution team sold the satellite rights of its venture '' Dhoom 3'' for to Sony Entertainment Television.

YRF Home Entertainment

YRF Home Entertainment division produces and releases Audio CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs & VCDs. While these include films from YRF's own films catalogue, the division also selectively acquires films from outside banners for releasing them across Home Video formats. YRF Home Entertainment forever classics collection includes many of their own classic films, directed by the company's founder Yash Chopra and his son Aditya Chopra, besides several popular films from Raj Kapoor Films and B.R. Films, among others.

YRF Music

The company impacted the music industry through '' Darr'' (1993), '' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' (1995), and '' Dil To Pagal Hai'' (1997). In 2004, YRF established its independent feature music distribution company named YRF Music. The first soundtrack to be distributed under YRF Music was the critical and commercial blockbuster epic love saga '' Veer-Zaara''. It supported the careers of upcoming composers such as Jatin–Lalit (''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge''), Anu Malik (''Dum Laga Ke Haisha''), Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy (''Bunty Aur Babli''), Pritam (''Dhoom''), Vishal–Shekhar (''Salaam Namaste''), Salim–Sulaiman (''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi''), Amit Trivedi (''Ishaqzaade''), Ram Sampath (''Luv Ka The End''), Sajid–Wajid (''Daawat-e-Ishq''), Sohail Sen (''Mere Brother Ki Dulhan''), Raghu Dixit (''Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge''), Sachin–Jigar (''Shuddh Desi Romance''), Mithoon (''Shamshera''), Jasleen Royal (''Hichki''), and Amartya Rahut (''Aurangzeb'').

2009 Disney buyout-refusal

In 2007, The Walt Disney Company entered Indian entertainment through a three-film co-production agreement with YRF, '' Ta Ra Rum Pum'', '' Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'', and '' Roadside Romeo''. Disney's move was seen as a bid to increase its global recognition and finally enter the increasingly lucrative Indian cinema arena. In 2009, Disney offered a 49% acquisition of YRF for (unadjusted for inflation), which took the valuation of the Indian entertainment company to .

2011 Acquisition by Disney

In 2011, a 99% share acquisition offer by Disney was accepted by UTV for (unadjusted for inflation). The two companies together established Disney UTV, which functioned as the Indian subsidiary of the American company. In December 2016, Disney announced that it was restructuring its Indian operations and UTV will no longer produce movies and will focus only on the distribution of its Hollywood films.

Aditya Chopra (2007 - present)

Aditya Chopra as Vice-Chairman

From 2007 to 2010 the company saw an all-time low, with several of their high-budgeted films failing at the box office, and thereby suffering losses amounting to millions. The films broke YRF's perfect success ratio and were oddly released one after another. Some of the most unsuccessful films produced under the banner were '' Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'', '' Laaga Chunari Mein Daag'', '' Aaja Nachle'', '' Tashan'', '' Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'', '' Roadside Romeo, Dil Bole Hadippa!, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year'' and '' Pyaar Impossible''.

Aditya Chopra then took over as the vice-chairman of Yash Raj Films in 2010, soon after the release of the film '' Badmaash Company'' under the same banner.

In 2011, the company went into production of three individual films with Aamir Khan for '' Dhoom 3'', Shah Rukh Khan for ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' and with Salman Khan for ''Ek Tha Tiger'', the first installment in the YRF Spy Universe. The three films would become the most expensive productions ever undertaken by YRF; ''Ek Tha Tiger'' was produced at , ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' was produced at and ''Dhoom 3'' was produced at .

All three of these films broke box office records in India and went on to become some of the highest-grossing films of their time. ''Ek Tha Tiger'', which released on the 66th Independence Day of India, earned approximately and became the eleventh highest-grossing film of Indian cinema. ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' opened worldwide on the Diwali day of 2012 and went on to earn and became the fifteenth highest-grossing film in India. ''Dhoom 3'' released in (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Arabic) on the Christmas week of 2013 and grossed approximately , in the worldwide market and went on to become the twelfth highest-grossing film of Indian cinema, .

Aditya Chopra as Chairman

After the death of Yash Chopra in October 2012, Aditya Chopra was elevated to the position of chairman and Chief Executive of the company's studio wing. Facing overwhelming pressure by the Indian bourses to be publicly listed around the same period, the company went for a soft-launch on 3 January 2013.

The company received angel investment by institutional fund-raisers such as LIC of India, RNT Associates, PremjiInvest, Catamaran Ventures, Maruti Udyog and Unilazer Ventures. YRF was made open to Indian enterprises only and no FDI was accepted. Venture capitalists also showed interest with Adi Godrej, Y. C. Deveshwar, Kumar Birla, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Anand Mahindra, Chanda Kochhar, Sunil Mittal, Shikha Sharma and Uday Kotak investing undisclosed sums. YRF produced more films under the chairmanship of Chopra and the new management.

Produced and distributed films

YRF Entertainment

In November 2011, YRF Entertainment was announced as a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films, in Beverly Hills, California, US, with Uday Chopra as the CEO.

By 2023, YRF Entertainment was transformed into the streaming division of Yash Raj Films.

Film

Television

YRF Television

YRF Television was a TV production company, based in Mumbai, India, and promoted by Aditya Chopra.
YRF Television, although produced a small number of programmes, but all of these were content oriented productions. It was mainly focused on creating and producing unique, distinctive shows for television audiences, than most of the shows that were developed during that time, aiming to provide television viewers compelling content through fresh, contemporary and engaging storylines.

Some of YRF Television's shows include Mahi Way, Rishta.com, Powder, Khotey Sikkey, Kismat,
It was owned by Yash Raj Films (YRF) and entered into an exclusive agreement with Sony Entertainment Television to produce exclusive fiction and non-fiction content for the channel.

Works with newcomers

YRF launched a number of budding screenwriters and directors under their banner throughout these years. Directors and screenwriters such as Kunal Kohli, Kabir Khan, Sanjay Gadhvi, Ali Abbas Zafar, Jaideep Sahni, Siddharth Anand, Shimit Amin, Habib Faisal, Shaad Ali, Maneesh Sharma and Vijay Krishna Acharya debuted under YRF and have gone on to become independent entities in films. The company also produced films for filmmakers such as Anil Mehta, Chandraprakash Dwivedi and Pradeep Sarkar under their banner. The company was ranked as the most powerful film production companies in India in a survey conducted by Filmfare in 2006.

Talent Management

Apart from producing big-budgeted films with established actors, YRF also announced several films featuring relative newcomers in the fourth quarter of 2012; ''Aurangzeb'' starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sashaa Agha and Arjun Kapoor, '' Gunday'' starring Ranveer Singh, '' Bewakoofiyaan'' starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor, '' Daawat-e-Ishq'' with Aditya Roy Kapur, '' Mardaani'' with Rani Mukerji, and '' Kill Dil'' starring Ali Zafar and Govinda. The films released all through 2013 and 2014 were seen as a strategic move by the company to infuse newer jobs into Hindi cinema in the form of actors, screenwriters, directors and technicians. In a bid to break away from the traditional star system of Hindi cinema, the company ventured into producing low-budgeted independent films with new creatives (actors, creatives and technicians) from 2008. Apart from working with upcoming actors, the company independently launched several new faces as leading actors in several of their big-budget films through their home banner and through Y-Films.

Offices

YRF is headquartered in Mumbai. In India, YRF has a network of distribution offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Amravati, Indore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Kochi. Internationally, there are offices in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the United Arab Emirates.

Tie-ups

Throughout the years of its existence, YRF entered into various business agreements with independent film and media entities present in the country.

References

External links

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{{Film Studios in India

Hindi cinema
Film production companies based in Mumbai
Indian companies established in 1970
Film distributors of India
Film production companies of India
International sales agents
Producers who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award