Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the film studio business are expected to be a key theme in 2026, with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) emerging as the latest player to scale up its presence by acquiring a majority stake in Sikhya Entertainment, the production house behind the Oscar-winning documentary film The Elephant Whisperers.
RIL, through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited, has acquired a 50.1% stake in Sikhya Entertainment for Rs 150 crore. The acquisition strengthens Jio Studios and deepens Reliance’s footprint in the media and entertainment space. RIL is also the majority owner of JioStar, India’s largest media and entertainment company.
As part of the partnership, Jio Studios will jointly own the intellectual property rights of future films and web series developed under the collaboration. Sikhya Entertainment is known for critically acclaimed films such as The Lunchbox, Masaan, Haraamkhor and Jugnu.
The transaction adds to a growing list of consolidation moves in the Indian film industry. Late last year, Universal Music Group acquired a 30% stake in Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar-promoted Excel Entertainment at an enterprise valuation of Rs 2,400 crore.
Earlier, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned Saregama invested Rs 325 crore in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bhansali Productions. In 2024, Adar Poonawalla acquired a 50% stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, while in 2022, Nepean Capital bought a 50% stake in Maddock Films at an undisclosed valuation.
Industry experts say these deals reflect accelerating consolidation, as large corporations back proven creative studios to secure scale, talent and intellectual property. According to Sacnilk, total India gross box office collections in 2025 stood at Rs 13,415.21 crore across 1,572 films, while total India net collections were Rs 11,371.82 crore during the year.
“There has been a flurry of deals in this sector over the last year or so, with four transactions in the movie production space. This reflects heightened equity activity and highlights both the potential and growth opportunity within the industry,” said Nitin Menon, managing partner at NV Capital.
“Overall, these developments have strengthened sector sentiment and supported the broader growth of the film industry, while enhancing domestic and international recognition in terms of capital formation,” he added.
Anushree Rauta, equity partner and head of the media, entertainment and gaming practice at ANM Global, expects more such deals in the coming years. “Equity participation allows for deeper control over content strategy, rights exploitation and global monetisation. We are likely to see more studio, platform and music label-led strategic equity partnerships as companies move upstream to secure proven creative pipelines,” she said.
She added that such transactions require nuanced governance, particularly around multi-layered IP ownership, greenlighting authority, creative control and future exit rights. The acquisition of a majority stake also marks a shift from transaction-led content deals to long-term strategic ownership.
“A majority acquisition of this nature reflects a move towards long-term strategic ownership. For boutique production houses like Sikhya, the success of the partnership will hinge on preserving creative autonomy while leveraging institutional capital and distribution at scale.”
One of the clear advantages of this investment is that Jio Studios seals its presence across the spectrum of film-making—mainstream (big-budget, mid-budget) to indie films (passion projects of independent filmmakers made on shoe-string budgets). The studio has widely been associated with mainstream big-to-mid-budget films such as Dhurandhar, Stree, Mrs. and Laapataa Ladies.
“Sikhya Entertainment is known for mid-sized indie films. So, one should look at the deal from that point of view. Jio Studios is already known for producing big-to-mid-budget films,” said Rahul Merchant, Partner, Mayavi Entertainment and a veteran who has been distributing indie films for more than twelve years in India.
Besides this, Jio Studios benefit from hard-earned experience of Guneet Monga and Achin Jain, founders of Sikhya Entertainment, in making strong in-roads into the global film distribution market.
“Both Guneet and Achin have in-depth understanding of the global markets. Therefore, this deal is likely to create path-breaking content which will travel across the diaspora audiences and get them more excited about Indian content,” added Merchant of Mayavi Entertainment
Concurring with this view, Utpal Acharya, chief executive officer of Content Engineers, said, “With Sikhya Entertainment’s creative strengths and Jio Studios’ scale, the partnership is well placed to contribute to meaningful growth in both cinema and series, rooted in India and aimed at global markets. I have personally witnessed Guneet’s journey in the Indian film space, and she truly deserves this.”
