Zee Telefilms - Chandra

The deal, coming as it does after a five-year stormy partnership between the two high-profile media majors, is seen as a victory of sorts for Corporate India over the multinational brigade. Chandra, a one-time rice packer in Hissar, Haryana, is being credited with outwitting News Corp's chairman and global media baron Rupert Murdoch, who is known for his ability to get what he wants.
And Murdoch sure wanted a pre-eminent role in the Indian entertainment and media sweepstakes. On the one hand, he had his own STAR platform, on the other, he became an equal partner in Zee and was at one time tipped to swallow the latter. He was well on his way, until he ran into the entrepreneurial spirit and tenacity of Chandra, whom big names do not seem to sway or intimidate.
Analysts say it is early days yet. For one, it would be foolhardy to write Murdoch off in a jiffy. News Corp has got rid of the partnership that forbade STAR TV from launching channels or programmes which would compete directly with Zee's. In other words, STAR TV is now free to do its own thing. STAR stands to pocket nearly $ 150 million in cash from Zee, and is expected to strengthen itself in the Indian market.
The time-frame for the deal has not been defined; it is still not clear how Zee will fund the $300 million deal without harming its other projects.
Chandra, who shuns personal publicity and the public glare, is not telling.
However, raising high finance may not be difficult for a man who has nurtured Zee into India's most popular satellite television network in less than seven years, and positioned it as a global brand with visibility in the US, UK and South Africa. His ambitious satellite communications project entails bigger investments. There is talk that Zee Telefilms may offload up to ten per cent of its equity to global media companies with high net worth, in order to pay News Corp.
With more than 200 million viewers, Zee Network would be the envy of any broadcaster. It commands 50 per cent of advertising revenues in a highly competitive environment. Chandra was listed by The Sunday Times of London as Britain's fourth richest Asian with a personal wealth of pound sterling 450 million. Chandra's interests range from a 65 per cent post-deal stake in Zee Telefilms to amusement parks, education, packaging, exports, publishing.
With Zee Telefilms firmly under his belt post-deal, Chandra will preside over what any media magnate would give his right arm for: software production (Zee Telefilms), broadcast (Patco) and ground distribution (SitiCable).
There was a time, not very long ago, when stories, within the realm of speculation, were in circulation that Murdoch dictates terms to Chandra. Today, Murdoch needs Chandra like never before, according to some analysts.
So far, Murdoch has pumped over $300 million in his Indian operation (Star Plus, Star Movies, Star World and Star News). But viewership has been low. An experiment to 'Indianise' the channels has yielded less-than-satisfactory results. There have been no decent returns on investment. All this at a time when Zee's bouquet of channels -- Zee Cinema, Zee TV and Zee India TV / Zee News which Chandra owns jointly with Murdoch through Asia Today Limited -- were proving money-spinners.
Though Sony Entertainment Television is still a challenger, the post-deal field is open for Chandra to emerge as India's undisputed media mogul. In the coming months, he expects to launch channels in Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, Gujarati and Telugu. At the launch of the Marathi channel on August 14, 1999, Chandra had said: "There should be something for everyone. Everyone in each corner of the country should enjoy television in a language they understand comfortably."
Zee insiders admire his commitment to make India a power to reckon with in animation films. "His conviction is that our folklore, legends, mythology, history are full of useful tales and moral stories. He wants these to be told to children in the new millennium through animation films. How many film-makers would dare to invest over Rs 50 million to make a full-length animation feature film (Bhagmati, on the legend of Golconda) in the mould of Lion King? His efforts at setting up infrastructure necessary for making animation films has inspired several other entrepreneurs," says a source.