MUMBAI: Rajshri Marathi is the most popular channel on YouTube for Marathi content, and has become immensely popular over the last few years. In the last year, especially, Rajshri Marathi has seen exponential growth. On YouTube, it has over 1, 25, 000 subscribers. It is a platform that bridges the Marathi film and music industry with the audience, said Rajshri Entertainment Private Limited, Managing Director & CEO Rajjat Barjatya to Radioandmusic.com.

Which Marathi films promotion will soon be seen on the Rajshri Marathi YouTube channel?

Every new Marathi film is being promoted on Rajshri Marathi. Films like ‘Classmates’, ‘Vithi Dandu’ and ‘Mitwaa’ are being promoted on our channel. These are films that are  being looked forward to. So, via our YouTube channel we are able to reach out to a Marathi audience in India as well as abroad. There is a huge Marathi expatriate audience that we are able to reach via the internet.

Tell us about Rajshri Marathi and how was it developed?

The first Rajshri channel on YouTube was the Rajshri Bollywood channel. The next logical step was to start a Marathi channel since we are based in Mumbai. So, we started acquiring the marketing rights for Marathi films, stage plays and animated content. It became so popular that today every new Marathi film today is being promoted on Rajshri Marathi. We have trailers, soundtracks and clips from successful Marathi films like ‘Duniyadaari’, ‘Poshter Boys’ and upcoming movies like ‘Classmates’. We repurpose the content for our viewers.

Repurpose? Could you elaborate?

Yes. What we have realised on YouTube is that, it is not just about the content; it is also about what you do with it. If you have a song, you have the original video. Now, how can you make viewers sing along to their favourite songs? For that, we have lyric videos. Similar is the case for jukebox. We see a lot of potential in long-form music content. It is like a playlist that you can play on your mobile devices, where you can actually hear 15-20 songs back to back without having to click each and every song. You have all the songs in one video.

What is your role in acquiring Marathi music?

We are digital partners with major production houses and distributers in the Marathi industry. We directly receive the content (movies, songs, etc.) to feature across digital platforms such as YouTube, Dailymotion, Hulu and others. Almost all the recent Marathi movies have partnered with us in some way or another, to showcase themselves on digital platforms.

How do you acquire music content from films?

We regularly get approached by music producers and singers to whom we provide a 360 degree digital promotion plan. We have music launches, exclusive interviews, unplugged versions of songs, lyrical videos, jukeboxes and special playlists, on Rajshri Marathi.

What are the different ways you promote acquired music?

The music acquired is distributed across multiple digital platforms like YouTube, Dailymotion, Vuclip and MSN amongst others. Social media plays a very important role in promotions. Google Hangouts with popular Marathi stars are an important part of these promotions as well. These hangouts are popular as they give audience the opportunity to interact with the stars directly.

What kind of religious content works well on Rajshri Soul?

Some of the most popular content under the devotional genre are Manache Shlok, and popular Marathi Aartis such as Sukhkarta Dukhaharta.

What is the success rate of religious music content?

This is one of the most sought after genres across digital platforms. The easy availability of desired content gives rise to a great demand for devotional and spiritual music. Some of our videos like 'Mahalakshmi Aarti' by Sanjeevani Bhelande have been highly appreciated by our audience.

What has been the year-on-year growth for Rajshri Marathi?

It has been a 100 percent growth year on year; mainly because of the quality of content in Marathi cinema, per se, has improved dramatically.

Will Rajshri Marathi venture into music streaming?

Rajshri Marathi is a content brand. In 2015, you will see some excellent original content from Rajshri Marathi. But, our DNA will always be content creation, content ownership and content distribution. I do not see us venturing in the OTT space, which is becoming a Saavn or a Gaana. They are wonderful at what they do. We want to be the product that sits on their shelves.

How many Marathi films do you acquire music rights for in a year?

The number varies as the Marathi cinema is growing at a faster pace.