Warner Bros Pictures India is following its foray into the production of Hindi-language films with an exclusive multi-picture deal with South Indian-language film company Ocher Studios.

Chennai-based Ocher Studios is headed by superstar actor Rajnikanth's daughter Soundarya. Warner Bros Pictures India and Ocher will produce and distribute live-action South Indian-language films under the Warner Bros brand.

'We are proud to be working with Soundarya Rajnikanth who is extremely talented, has a good insight into filmmaking and knows the pulse of the southern market,' said Blaise Fernandes, country head for Warner Bros Pictures India. 'Soundarya and Ocher Studios' creative skills combined with our marketing and distribution network will provide the perfect synergy between the two companies.'

Set up in 2005, Ocher Studios offers facilities in visual effects, digital film lab, non-linear editing, CGI and pre-production.

With a team of 80 people, it has executed around 150 visual effects, advertisement and animation projects. The debut feature film from Ocher Studios is the 3D animation Sultan The Warrior directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth and starring superstar Rajinikanth. It is scheduled to be released in 12 different languages simultaneously.

'Ocher Studios has always strived towards achieving high standards in quality content creation, and with Warner's expertise in the marketing and distribution space this association will definitely create an impact in the film industry,' said Soundarya Rajinikanth, managing director of Ocher Studios.

Richard J Fox, executive vice president, Warner Bros International, felt this was a strategic and valuable move towards expanding Warner Bros' local production base: 'We are thrilled with this opportunity to expand our local production business across all four southern languages. As is our practice, we will work closely with our partners to impart our experiences and expertise in a collaborative way.'

The four Southern Indian languages are Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Warner Bros Pictures India is currently in production on its first Hindi-language film, Made In China, directed by Nikhil Advani. Local reports say the studio is also backing Shona Urvashi's sophomore film Saas Bahu Aur Sensex and debutant director Ajoy Verma's SRK.

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