SidRK to leave UTV-Disney, start his own studio

Rumour has it that Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director of Disney India, is all set to bring the curtains down on his tenure with the studio which started in 2005 as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, UTV, across Motion Pictures, Broadcasting, TV Production, Animation and Corporate. Mirror has learnt that he will not be renewing his three-year contract with the group despite them wanting him to reconsider, and plans to start his own studio which will be not only producing but also marketing and distributing its own films.

A source close to the development told Mirror that the decision was taken in April, soon after the phenomenal success of The Jungle Book and Baaghi: "For a while now he has wanted to do his own thing and the studio will be a Rs 400-500-crore investment. There are talks of multiple investor-partners, among them are Mukesh Ambani and Ronnie Screwvala."

For the last three years, there have been constant speculations about Siddharth's exit but this time it seems to be final. "He is expected to continue till the year end till Aamir Khan's wrestling drama, a Christmas release," adds the source.

Siddharth is the man behind multiple path-breaking films; including the cult blockbuster Rang De Basanti and the National Award-winning hit Khosla Ka Ghosla, both of which released in 2006. He later took over the revenue wing of UTV Motion Pictures and was responsible for distribution and syndication worldwide, in addition to marketing. In January 2008, he took over as CEO, and after the integration of UTV with The Walt Disney Company (India) in 2012, held the role of Managing Director, Studios. He has to his credit several milestone movies, including Taare Zameen Par, Jodhaa Akbar, Fashion, A Wednesday!, Dev D, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Kaminey, Raajneeti, Udaan, Paan Singh Tomar, Barfi!, ABCD, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, The Lunchbox and Chennai Express. In January 2014, Siddharth was promoted to Managing Director of Disney India and his responsibilities expanded from broadcasting and movies, to consumer products, the digital medium and live entertainment. If this news is true, it's all been good prep for this new chapter!