VOD service Sanona, a specialist in South Asian cinema, is launching its service in Cannes and has already locked a deal with Indian studio Yash Raj Films.

VOD service Sanona, a specialist in South Asian cinema, is launching its service in Cannes and has already locked a deal with Indian studio Yash Raj Films.

The deal gives Sanona access to more than 50 films from the studio’s back catalogue including titles Silsila, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Band Baaja Baaraat [pictured] and Ladies v Ricky Bahl.

Sanona will roll out first in the UK, the biggest market for South Asian films outside India. Alongside Hindi films, the library will offer Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and other regional Indian language titles as well as cinema originating from the British Asian, Canadian and American Diaspora.

“Sanona will aim to acquire annual slates, compromising all licensors’ releases for a calendar year. Besides well known Indian production houses, we have also begun acquiring regional, independent and art house cinema in order to procure features that will appeal to more culturally and artistically inclined audiences who are currently under served by traditional theatrical distributers,” said Sanoma CEO Adam Davies.

“Cannes is a very important market for Sanona and our acquisitions team are looking forward to viewing a range of new and cutting edge films, particularly from showcased South Asian filmmakers, such as Anurag Kashyap, Ashim Ahluwalia, Vasan Balal, Uday Shankar and Shivajee Chandrabhushan,” he continued.

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