The producer behind ‘The Kerala Story’, ‘Force’ and ‘Commando’ opens its Rs 282.14 crore mainboard issue on August 18 — high margins and a strong film slate, but declining revenue.
A Mumbai-based film production house with credits including ‘The Kerala Story’, the ‘Force’ franchise and ‘Commando’ series plans to raise Rs 282.14 crore via a mainboard listing on BSE and NSE.
Sunshine Pictures Ltd. (SPL) is a Mumbai-based film production house that has built a track record over the last decade and a half by making commercially successful, action-oriented and socially resonant films. Its portfolio reads like a Bollywood mid-market highlight reel.
The debut production ‘Force’ was a box office hit and kicked off what became a franchise. From there, SPL produced or distributed ‘Commando: A One-Man Army’, ‘Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty’, ‘Force 2’, ‘Commando 2: The Black Money Trail’ and, most recently, ‘The Kerala Story’ — which per the D&B Report emerged as the highest return-on-investment blockbuster of 2023. That kind of pedigree is genuinely uncommon in Indian mid-tier film production.
The company’s business model is built around a de-risking approach that balances co-productions with sole productions. Under co-production, SPL partners with a reputable studio and produces the project for a fixed fee plus a share of intellectual property and profits. This model provides earnings certainty and cash flow protection — the fixed fee comes regardless of box office performance. Under sole production, SPL finances the entire project end-to-end and retains all rights — IP, titles, distribution, OTT, music, remakes, sequels, foreign language rights, everything.
The math works like this: co-productions give predictable returns, and sole productions provide the upside. In practice, of SPL’s 13 commercial films to date, 7 were co-produced with reputable studios and 6 were self-produced.
The pipeline is meaningful. SPL is currently co-producing ‘Hisaab’ with Jio Studios (in post-production, scheduled for FY27), solely producing ‘Samuk’ (FY27), and producing ‘Nanavati vs Nanavati’ as a web series. Beyond that, there are 6 films and 2 web series in the pipeline.
Two new verticals have recently launched. Sunshine Music is now live on YouTube with 36 original music videos, and Sunshine Digital (Originals) has released its maiden web series ‘Bawra Mann’ and ‘Ankahee’. These verticals monetise the company’s creative infrastructure across newer formats.
The technology stack is fully digitised — from script breakdown, budgeting and scheduling to digital intermediate colour grading, high-resolution editing, Dolby Atmos sound mixing and VFX pipelines. SPL also uses a data-driven greenlighting process that incorporates audience analytics, genre-specific performance trends, regional viewership preferences and OTT consumption data. In an industry where 90%+ of films lose money, systematic project evaluation is a genuine competitive advantage.
The Indian film production segment is intensely competitive and fragmented, with hundreds of production houses ranging from studio majors (Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions, T-Series) to mid-tier players (Panorama Studios, Baweja Studios) to hundreds of small production companies. The OTT era has expanded the addressable market significantly but also increased content supply and viewer choice.
As of June 30, 2026, SPL had just 28 employees on its payroll. It engages 150-300 skilled professionals and unskilled labour as required during production — a model that keeps fixed costs low but scales up flexibly for each project.
Issue Details
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Issue Opens | August 18, 2026 |
| Issue Closes | August 20, 2026 |
| Listing | BSE, NSE (Mainboard) |
| Price Band | Rs 342 – Rs 360 per share |
| Face Value | Rs 10 |
| Issue Size | Rs 282.14 crore |
| Fresh Issue | Rs 172.80 crore (48,00,034 shares) |
| OFS | Rs 109.34 crore (30,37,157 shares) |
| Lot Size | 41 shares (multiples thereafter) |
| Min. Retail Investment | Rs 14,760 |
| Post-IPO Market Cap | Rs 1,121.36 crore |
| IPO Constitutes | 25.16% of post-IPO equity |
| BRLM | GYR Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. |
| Registrar | Bigshare Services Pvt. Ltd. |
From the fresh proceeds, Rs 112.50 crore — the bulk of the money — is earmarked for working capital, with the balance going to general corporate purposes. This working capital allocation reflects the front-loaded nature of film production, where projects require significant investment during production but generate revenue only after release.
Post-IPO, paid-up equity moves from Rs 26.35 crore to Rs 31.15 crore.
The promoter and selling stakeholder average cost of acquisition is Rs NA, Rs 0.44 and Rs 0.87 per share. This reflects earlier share issuances at a fixed price of Rs 21,333.34 per share in April 2009 and a very large 213-for-1 bonus issue in December 2024 — just months before the IPO.
GMP Watch
Grey market interest has been moderate. Sunshine Pictures IPO GMP is around Rs 40-45 in the days leading up to the issue opening, suggesting an estimated listing price of around Rs 400-405 — a premium of roughly 12-13% over the upper price band of Rs 360. GMP is unofficial, unregulated by SEBI and changes quickly with sentiment — use it as one data point, not a decision-maker.
Financial Performance
| Particulars (Rs cr) | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Income | 139.46 | 105.80 | 76.27 |
| PAT | 53.35 | 34.46 | 40.02 |
| PAT Margin | 39.87% | 33.35% | 36.20% |
| RoCE | 82.08% | 41.23% | 36.20% |
The financial trajectory here is the exact opposite of most recent IPOs. Revenue has declined steadily from Rs 139.46 crore in FY24 to Rs 76.27 crore in FY26 — a nearly 45% drop over two years, reflecting fewer film releases during the reporting period. PAT has been inconsistent — Rs 53.35 crore in FY24, dropping to Rs 34.46 crore in FY25, recovering to Rs 40.02 crore in FY26.
PAT margins have held above 33% throughout — extraordinary numbers for a film production business, where 15-25% is more typical for successful mid-tier producers. RoCE was a stunning 82.08% in FY24 and remained above 35% in FY26.
According to a note from the brokerage Swastika Investmart, “EBITDA margin surged 2,953 bps to 78.65% in FY26 despite a 27.96% revenue decline. This sharp improvement is mainly due to production costs of unreleased projects being capitalized as inventory, rather than a genuine improvement in operational efficiency.”
The brokerage adds that “Cash Flow from Operations (CFO) collapsed to −Rs 3,320.63 lakhs, revealing severe working capital lock-up and non-cash-backed P&L profits.”
Average EPS over three years is Rs 15.33 and average RoNW is 37.32%. At the upper band of Rs 360, the P/E works out to 28.02x on FY26 earnings and 32.55x on FY25 — pricing that assumes the current profitability profile is repeatable. The issue is priced at a P/BV of 6.54 on pre-IPO NAV and 3.53 on post-IPO NAV of Rs 102.07 per share.
Listed peers Panorama Studios, Baweja Studios and Balaji Telefilms trade at P/E multiples of 51.2, 7.12 and NA respectively (as of August 14, 2026), though these are not strict apples-to-apples comparisons — SPL’s model of fiction-heavy commercial films with a co-production/sole-production balance is fairly unique in the listed space.
On valuation, Swastika Investmart notes: “Relative to pure-play listed media peers, the operational return ratios (RoCE > 35%) and low leverage justify a slight premium. However, the valuation leaves limited margin of safety if content releases face production delays or subdued viewer traction.” The brokerage concludes that Sunshine Pictures is “suitable primarily as a high-risk, tactical exposure for investors looking to participate in content creation and IP monetization plays, provided they can stomach significant quarter-to-quarter earnings volatility.”
Risks to Consider
The declining revenue trend is the most immediate concern. Total income has dropped nearly 45% from FY24 to FY26
Content businesses are inherently hit-or-miss. Even with a de-risking model, a single film flop can hurt margins and delay follow-on projects. The pipeline includes ‘Hisaab’ with Jio Studios and standalone productions ‘Samuk’ and ‘Nanavati vs Nanavati’ — all still to be released and monetised.
Customer concentration in the industry is a related risk. Major theatrical distributors, OTT platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, JioHotstar, Sony Liv) and studios drive commissioning decisions. Any shift in their content strategy or a slowdown in OTT commissioning could hit revenue.
Working capital intensity is meaningful — the Rs 112.50 crore earmarked for working capital reflects this. Films are produced upfront and monetised over time, tying up capital.
Rising talent costs, VFX expenses and marketing budgets in the OTT era can compress margins if not passed through to buyers.