SRK's home production Om Shati Om bags Rs 75 crore

For over two months, big boys of showbiz have been bidding for the worldwide rights of Shah Rukh Khan's home-production Om Shanti Om. While one of the Bollywood trade papers pitched the deal at Rs 80 crore, sceptics scoffed the speculation because it was an unheard of amount for a Bollywood film. Buzz is the deal is largest for worldwide rights for Om Shanti Om finally closed in the last couple of days.

It is learnt Kishore Lulla's Eros International, listed on AIM's junior LSE, has bagged the worldwide rights for the Khan flick for Rs 72-75 crore.

When asked about the deal, Sunil Lulla of Eros said, "I will be in a position to talk to you about the deal only next week." But insiders say the deal has been signed, sealed and is waiting to be delivered.

Another film that is being sought after is Aamir Khan's under production Taare Zameen Pe. "Since PVR is producing film with Aamir, they may distribute it themselves," says analyst Amod Mehra.

Acquiring the worldwide rights of a Bollywood film is the latest innovation in showbiz deals. "Since companies like Adlabs Films, Eros, UTV, Studio 18 and T Series are flushed with funds, it has become easier for them to shell out astronomical sums to acquire the worldwide rights of a film," says Mehra.

"Consolidated distribution rights will be the business practice in the future," adds Sandeep Bhargava of Studio 18. "This is primarily due to the entry of organised players in the distribution business." Studio 18 recently acquired the worldwide distribution rights of Mahesh Bhatt's Awarapan.

According to Bhargava, producers prefer to sell worldwide rights to a single party because it saves them the bother of dealing with a network of distributors.

One of the earliest examples of the acquisition of consolidated distribution rights started with Yash Raj Films taking over Mangal Panday The Rising. Next, UTV took over the WWR of Taxi 9211 from Adlabs and Ramesh Sippy Entertainment.

Vipul Shah, whose Namastey London was acquired for global distribution by Eros, feels selling worldwide rights makes good business sense.