- **Mukta Arts is a media company built around a single, self-reinforcing idea: create stories, train the people who make them, and own the screens where they are shown. Incorporated on 7 September 1982 by legendary filmmaker Subhash Ghai, it evolved from a pure film production house into an integrated group spanning education, exhibition, and content, with the promoter still holding a 55% stake. The recurring approach is to use its deep library of Hindi films and its film-school brand to feed a growing chain of cinemas, creating a closed loop where each part supports the others.** # Business segments Four engines at different stages - a cinema chain scaling through management contracts, a premier film school that feeds the industry, a content and library business that monetises the past while developing the future, and a steady rental income from owned real estate - all anchored by the legacy of a storied film studio. ## 1. Film Exhibition - Mukta A2 Cinemas: the consumer-facing engine **A chain of over 70 owned and managed screens across India and the Gulf that makes money from ticket sales, popcorn, and advertising, now expanding with a capital-light management model.** - **Ticket, food, and ads** - revenue is recognised on the day of the show for tickets, at the counter for food and beverages, and over the contract period for advertising, with food inventory valued on a first-in, first-out basis. - **Management contracts, not just ownership** - the chain has moved to a management model for 5 properties with 17 screens in Telangana and Gujarat, and its Bahrain subsidiary started managing and operating 7 new screens in Saudi Arabia in December 2024, reducing the capital needed to grow. - **A luxury format to lift spending** - in June 2025, it opened its first ‘Opulence’ multiplex in Vadodara with recliners, loungers, couple’s beds, 2K laser projection, and Dolby Atmos sound, aiming to increase per-customer revenue. - **A capped pricing strategy** - the chain continues a strategy of capped movie ticket and food-and-beverage pricing to drive footfall, even as it adds premium formats. - **An investor to fund the next leg** - in August 2024, Maverick Media Private Limited agreed to invest Rs 21 crore for a 41% stake in the cinema subsidiary, with a further commitment of Rs 100 crore in preference shares over three to four years, diluting Mukta Arts’ holding below 50%. ## 2. Media & Entertainment Education - Whistling Woods International: the talent factory **India’s premier film, media, and creative arts institute, operating as a joint venture with a state government entity, that earns fees from students and institutional affiliations while shaping the workforce for the industry.** - **Degrees backed by a national university** - it has renewed its academic association with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, which awards degrees for all its programmes, giving students a recognised qualification. - **Global partnerships for student exchange** - it has signed MoUs with universities in the US, Australia, Europe, the UK, and South Korea, including the University of Denver and South Bank University, and runs exchange programmes with schools in France, Sweden, and Boston. - **First to teach virtual production** - it became India’s first institution to introduce virtual production into the filmmaking curriculum at both graduate and post-graduate levels, and has since added photogrammetry, motion capture, camera tracking, and a developing curriculum in generative AI. - **Fees recognised over the course** - non-refundable acceptance fees, tuition, and infrastructure fees are recognised equally over the duration of the course, so revenue is spread across the academic period rather than taken upfront. - **A long-running land dispute** - a Public Interest Litigation led to a High Court order quashing the original joint venture agreement for the 20-acre land; 14.5 acres of vacant land was handed back, and the institute has been paying arrears of rent and annual rent since, though management believes a resolution is in sight. ## 3. Film Production, Content Creation & Library Monetisation: the creative core **The original business that produces films and TV shows, rents out production equipment, and steadily monetises a library of Hindi feature films through licensing deals.** - **A film library that keeps paying** - the company monetises its library of Hindi feature films, and in September 2024 signed a new six-year deal with Zee Entertainment for satellite and media rights of 37 films at a consideration 25% higher than the previous agreement, with the licence period starting in August 2027. - **TV content for the public broadcaster** - it produced and delivered the daily soap ‘Jaanaki’ for Doordarshan, which ran for 208 episodes in FY24 and was one of the highest-rated serials on the channel. - **Equipment for hire** - the company also rents production equipment to other production houses and independent producers, recognising the income on a straight-line basis over the rental period. - **Costs matched to revenue** - distribution and negative rights are amortised in proportion to the revenue realised against management’s estimate of total expected revenue, so costs follow the income stream rather than being written off upfront. ## 4. Real Estate Rentals: the steady backstop **A small but consistent stream of rental income from the company’s owned office premises in Mumbai’s Film City complex.** - **Owned office space** - the company’s balance sheet carries ownership premises with a net carrying amount of Rs 38.4 crore as of March 2025, and it earns rental income principally from office space leases. - **Registered office as an asset** - the company’s registered office is at Mukta House, behind the Whistling Woods Institute in the Filmcity Complex, Goregaon, Mumbai, and the rental income from its real estate is grouped under the ‘Others’ segment. # Group structure and partners **A promoter-led listed company with seven subsidiaries, two material joint ventures, and a recent strategic investor in its cinema arm, all tied together by the Ghai family’s controlling stake.** - Subhash Ghai, the founder and Chairman, held 55.34% of the equity share capital as of 31 March 2025, and the company is listed on both the BSE and the NSE. - The group has seven subsidiaries: Whistling Woods International, Connect.1, Mukta Telemedia, Mukta Creative Ventures, Mukta A2 Cinemas, Mukta A2 Multiplex W.L.L. (Bahrain), and Mukta V N Films; of these, Whistling Woods International and Mukta A2 Cinemas are the material subsidiaries. - Whistling Woods International Limited is a subsidiary of Mukta Arts and a joint venture between the company and Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation, and Mukta V N Films is treated as a joint venture in the consolidated financials despite being a subsidiary under company law. - Mukta A2 Cinemas has a joint venture with Asian Cinemas operating 16 screens in Hyderabad, and its Bahrain subsidiary brought in A. A. Films Pvt. Ltd as an equity partner in May 2021, changing it from a wholly owned to a partly owned subsidiary. - The Managing Director, Rahul Puri, is the son-in-law of the promoter and started his career as an investment banker at UBS Warburg before joining the company; he was closely involved in setting up both Whistling Woods International and the Mukta A2 Cinemas chain.