T-Series Wiki
Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited, doing business as T-Series, is an Indian music record label and film production company founded by Gulshan Kumar on July 11, 1983. It is primarily known for Bollywood music soundtracks and Indi-pop music. As of 2014, T-Series is India's largest music record label, with up to a 35% share of the Indian music market, followed by Sony Music India and Zee Music. T-Series also owns and operates the most-viewed and the most-subscribed YouTube channel, with 203 million subscribers and 175 billion total views as of 15 December 2021. While best known as a music label, T-Series has also had some moderate success as a film production company.
Kumar, initially a fruit juice seller in Delhi, founded T-Series to sell pirated Bollywood songs before the company eventually began producing new music. Their breakthrough came with the soundtrack for the 1988 Bollywood blockbuster Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, composed by Anand–Milind, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, and starring Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla, which became one of the best-selling Indian music albums of the 1980s, with over 8 million sales. They eventually became a leading music label with the release of Aashiqui (1990), composed by Nadeem–Shravan, which sold 20 million copies and became the best-selling Indian soundtrack album of all time. However, Gulshan Kumar was murdered by the Mumbai mafia syndicate D-Company on 12 August 1997. Since then, T-Series has been led by his son Bhushan Kumar and younger brother Krishan Kumar.
On YouTube, T-Series has a multi-channel network, with 30 channels (including Lahari Music) that have over 382.3 million subscribers as of 15 December 2021. The company's YouTube team consists of 13 people at the T-Series headquarters. The company's main T-Series channel on YouTube primarily shows music videos as well as film trailers. It became the most-viewed YouTube channel in January 2017. The T-Series channel primarily features content in the Hindi language, and occasionally several other languages including Bhojpuri, Punjabi and English. T-Series also have other channels dedicated to content in several Indian languages including Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Rajasthani.
History
T-Series was founded on 11 July 1983 by Gulshan Kumar, at the time a fruit juice seller in the Daryaganj neighbourhood of Delhi. The company initially sold pirated Bollywood songs, prior to releasing original music. Back then, the Indian audio cassette market was small-scale, with widespread piracy, but there was growing demand for cassette music. According to Rediff, while Kumar "was involved in piracy, he was passionately market- and consumer-driven." The company also took advantage of loopholes in copyright law allowing for the release of cover versions of songs, which T-Series would then flood the market with. Researchers Lawrence Liang and Ravi Sundaram wrote:
T-Series was a profoundly disruptive force in the Indian music market, in large part because it was a tremendously successful pirate. The company built its catalog through a variety of quasi-legal and illegal practices ... [T-Series] engaged in more straightforward copyright infringement in the form of pirate releases of popular hits, and it often illegally obtained film scores before the release of the film to ensure that its recordings were the first to hit the market.
Kumar discovered that there was also a market for devotional music, and began recording and selling it. Kumar noticed that many elderly Hindu followers could not read hymns and chants because of failing eyesight, so Kumar hired singers to record the chants and sold them as cheap cassettes. Later, he filmed major Hindu pilgrimages in India and sold them on VHS and video cassette tapes.T-Series' first original film soundtrack release was for Lallu Ram in 1984, with music scored by Ravindra Jain.
The company's breakthrough came when it released the soundtrack for the 1988 Bollywood blockbuster Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (also known as QSQT), directed by Mansoor Khan and starring Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla. The Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak soundtrack, composed by Anand–Milind and written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, became the best-selling Indian soundtrack album of 1988 and one of the best-selling Indian soundtrack albums of the 1980s, with more than 8 million units sold. The biggest hit song from the album was "Papa Kehte Hain", sung by Udit Narayan and picturised on Aamir Khan. T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar soon played a key role in Bollywood's cassette boom of the late 1980s with his affordable T-Series albums.T-Series later became a leading music label with the release of Aashiqui (1990), directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The Aashiqui film soundtrack album, composed by the duo Nadeem–Shravan, sold 20 million units in India, and is the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of all time. A cover version of "Dheere Dheere" from Aashiqui was later sung by Yo Yo Honey Singh and released by T-Series in 2015.
T-Series was largely responsible for sparking a boom for the Indian music industry in the early 1990s. Many of the best-selling Bollywood music albums of the 1990s, particularly those composed by Nadeem–Shravan, were released under the T-Series label. Besides music production, the company also began venturing into film production. The annual earnings of T-Series grew from ₹20 crore ($16 million) in 1985 to ₹200 crore ($88 million) in 1991, and by 1997 had reached ₹500 crore ($140 million).In 1997, T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar was murdered by the Mumbai mafia syndicate D-Company. His assassination also led to T-Series losing its most prolific musicians at the time, Nadeem–Shravan, due to Nadeem Akhtar Saifi initially being accused of involvement in the murder, before later being exonerated. After Gulshan Kumar's death in 1997, the company has since been led by his son Bhushan Kumar, with the help of Gulshan's younger brother Krishan Kumar.
As a film production company, T-Series has had some moderate success. The highest-grossing T-Series film production to date is the critically acclaimed sleeper hit Hindi Medium (2017), written by Zeenat Lakhani, directed by Saket Chaudhary, and starring Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar. It grossed ₹322.4 crore ($46 million) worldwide, with $34 million in China alone, becoming one of the top 20 highest-grossing Indian films of all time. One of the most expensive Indian films was T-Series's Saaho, a sci-fi thriller with a production budget of ₹300 crore (equivalent to ₹317 crore or US$42 million in 2020), released in 2019. T-Series is also producing a biopic film based on the life of its founder Gulshan Kumar, called Mogul, which is currently under production and is scheduled for release in 2019.
2000s
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Film
Actors
2000
Papa The Great
Krishan Kumar, Nagma
2001
Tum Bin
Priyanshu Chatterjee, Himanshu Malik
2003
Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai
Priyanshu Chatterjee, Sakshi Shivanand
2006
Humko Deewana Kar Gaye
Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor
2007
Darling
Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol
2007
Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Akshay Kumar, Ameesha Patel, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja
2008
Karzzzz
Himesh Reshammiya, Urmila Matondkar, Dino Morea, Shweta Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Rohini Hattangadi, Smita Bansal, Gulshan Grover, Bakhtiyaar Irani, Raj Babbar, Himani Shivpuri, Tareena Patel, Asrani, Sudhir Dalvi, Imran Hasnee, Shiva Rindani
2009
Radio: Love on Air
Himesh Reshammiya, Sonal Sehgal, Shenaz Treasurywala, Zakir Hussain, Paresh Rawal, Megha Narkar, Urvashi Yadav, Himani Shivpuri, Megha Chatterji, Akhil Mishra
2010s[77] [78]
2010s
Year
Film
Actors
Notes
2010
Aashayein
John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal
Co-production with Percept Picture Company
2010
Kajraare
Himesh Reshammiya, Sara Loren, Amrita Singh, Natasha Sinha, Gaurav Chanana, Javed Shaikh, Gulshan Grover, Anupam Shyam, Adnan Shah
2011
Patiala House
Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma
Co-production with Hari Om Entertainment and Credence Motion Pictures
2011
Ready
Salman Khan, Asin, Paresh Rawal
Co-production with Sohail Khan Productions
2013
Nautanki Saala!
Ayushmann Khurrana, Pooja Salvi, Kunaal Roy Kapur
Co-production with R.S. Entertainment
2013
Aashiqui 2
Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor
Co-production with Vishesh Films
2014
Yaariyan
Rakul Preet Singh
2014
Bhoothnath Returns
Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani
Co-production with B.R Films
2014
Hate Story 2
Surveen Chawla, Jay Bhanushali
Co-production with Vikram Bhatt productions
2014
Creature 3D
Bipasha Basu, Imran Abbas
2015
Baby
Akshay Kumar, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu
Co-production with Friday Filmworks, Cape of Good Films & Hari Om Entertainment
2015
Roy
Arjun Rampal, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ranbir Kapoor
2015
Ek Paheli Leela
Sunny Leone
Co-production with Paper Doll Entertainment
2015
I Love NY
Sunny Deol, Kangana Ranaut
2015
All Is Well
Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Rishi Kapoor
alchemy productions
2015
Bhaag Johnny
Kunal Khemu, Zoa Morani, Mandana Karimi
Co-production with Vikram Bhatt productions
2015
Hate Story 3
Sharman Joshi, Karan Singh Grover, Zarine Khan, Daisy Shah
Co-production with Vikram Bhatt productions
2016
Sanam Re
Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam
2016
Airlift
Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur
Co-production with Abundantia Entertainment, Cape of Good Films, Emmay Entertainment, Hari Om Entertainment2016
Teraa Surroor
Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Naseeruddin Shah, Shekhar Kapur, Monica Dogra, Kabir Bedi, Shernaz Patel, Abhishek Duhan, Suneel Dutt, Graham Mollory, Ann Marie O'Connor, Richard O'Leary, Warren Renwick, Maneesh Chandra Bhatt, Niraj Singh, Ravi Singh, Tereza, Naresh Suri
Co-production with HR Musik Limited
2016
Sarbjit
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randeep Hooda
Co-production with Pooja Entertainment, Legend Studios
2016
Raaz: Reboot
Emraan Hashmi, Kriti Kharbanda
Co-production with Vishesh Films
2016
Tum Bin 2
Neha Sharma, Aditya Seal, Aashim Gulati
Co-production with Benaras Mediaworks
2016
Wajah Tum Ho
Sana Khan, Sharman Joshi, Gurmeet Choudhary
2016
Junooniyat
Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam
2017
Noor
Sonakshi Sinha, Purab Kohli
Co-production with Abundantia Entertainment
2017
Hindi Medium
Irrfan Khan
Co-production with Maddock Films
2017
FU: Friendship Unlimited
Aakash Thosar, Satya Manjrekar
Marathi film;Co-production with Cut2Cut Movies
2017
Raabta
Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon
Co-production with Maddock Films
2017
Baadshaho
Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi,
Vidyut Jammwal, Ileana D'Cruz, Esha Gupta,
Co-production with Vertex Motion Pictures
2017
Simran
Kangana Ranaut
Co-production with Karma Features, Adarsh Telemedia & Fortune Films (USA)
2017
Bhoomi
Sanjay Dutt, Aditi Rao Hydari
Co-production with Legend Studios
2017
Chef
Saif Ali Khan
Co-production with Abundantia Entertainment, Bandra West Pictures
2017
Star Gold Mumbai Special 6 3D: The Cycle Competition 3 At Wankhede Stadium And The Wonder Of Verma Once Again
Akshay Kumar, Sunny Deol, Soha Ali Khan, Shivam Patil, Aanchal Munjal, Rishabh Arora, Narendra Jha, Diana Khan, Kaushal Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Himansh Kohli, Ruhanika Dhawan, Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Khedekar
Co Produced With Ajay Kapoor, Sunil Lulla and Produced By Reliance Entertainment, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
2017
Tumhari Sulu
Vidya Balan
Co-production with Ellipsis Entertainment
2018
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sunny Singh
Co-production with Luv Films
2018
The Grihapravesh Pooja At 25 March 2018
The Voice Of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India In My Family
Co Production with Ajay Kapoor, Sunil Lulla And Produced By Dharmendra, Sunny Deol in Vijayta Films And Presented By Gulshan Kumar From Eros International
2018
Hate Story 4
Urvashi Rautela, Vivan Bhatena, Ihana Dhillon, Karan Wahi
2018
Raid
Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'Cruz, Saurabh Shukla
Co-production with Panorama Studios
2018
Blackmail
Irrfan Khan, Kirti Kulhari
Co-production with RDP Motion Pictures
2018
Fanney Khan
Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao
Co-production with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures, Anil Kapoor Films & Communication Network.
2018
Satyameva Jayate
John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee, Aisha Sharma, Amruta Khanvilkar
Co-production with Emmay Entertainment
2018
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Yami Gautam
Co-production with Kriti Pictures
2019
Why Cheat India
Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary
Co-production with Emraan Hashmi Films, Ellipsis Entertainment
2019
De De Pyaar De
Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Jimmy Sheirgill, Rakul Preet Singh
Co-production with Luv Films2019
Bharat
Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani
Co-Production with Salman Khan Films, Reel Life Productions
2019
Kabir Singh
Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani
Co-production with Cine1 Studios2019
Malaal
Meezaan Jaffery, Sharmin Segal
Co-Production with Bhansali Productions
2019
Arjun Patiala
Kriti Sanon, Diljit Dosanjh, Varun Sharma
Co-Production with Maddock Films
2019
Khandaani Shafakhana
Sonakshi Sinha, Badshah, Varun Sharma, Annu Kapoor
Co-Production with Sundial Productions
2019
Batla House
John Abraham, Mrunal Thakur
Co-production with JA Entertainment, Emmay Entertainment
2019
Saaho
Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor
Co-Production with UV Creations; Trilingual film (Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu)2019
Section 375
Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chaddha, Rahul Bhat, Meera Chopra
Co-production with Panorama Studios
2019
Daaka
Gippy Grewal, Zarine Khan
Co-production with Humble Motion Pictures.Punjabi Film
2019
Satellite Shankar
Sooraj Pancholi, Megha Akash
Co-Production with Cine1 Studios
2019
Marjaavaan
Siddharth Malhotra, Ritesh Deshmukh, Rakul Preet Singh, Tara Sutaria
Co-production with Emmay Entertainment
2019
Pagalpanti
Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Ileana D'Cruz, Arshad Warsi, Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Urvashi Rautela, Saurabh Shukla
Co-production with Panorama Studios
2019
Pati Patni Aur Woh
Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday
Co-production with B.R. Studios
2020s
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year
Film
Actors
Notes
2020
Tanhaji
Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Sharad Kelkar
Co-production with Ajay Devgn FFilms
2020
Jai Mummy Di
Sunny Singh, Sonnalli Seygall, Supriya Pathak, Poonam Dhillon
Co-Production with Luv Films
2020
Street Dancer 3D
Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhu Deva, Nora Fatehi
Co-Production with Remo D'Souza Entertainment
2020
Malang
Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Kunal Khemu
Co-production with Luv Films and Northern Lights Entertainment
2020
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra Kumar, Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta
Co-Production with Colour Yellow Productions
2020
Thappad
Taapsee Pannu, Pavail Gulati
Co-Production with Benaras Media Works
2020
Ludo
Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanya Malhotra, Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Suresh Saraf, Pearle Maaney, Inayat Verma.
Co-Production with Anurag Basu Productions;Release on Netflix.
2020
Chhalaang
Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha
Co-Production with Luv Films, Ajay Devgn FFilms;Release on Amazon Prime Video
2020
Durgamati
Bhumi Pednekar, Arshad Warsi, Mahie Gill
Co-Production with Abundantia Entertainment, Cape of Good Films;Release on Amazon Prime Video
2020
Indoo Ki Jawani
Kiara Advani, Aditya Seal, Mallika Dua
Co-Production with Emmay Entertainment, Electric Apples
2021
Madam Chief Minister
Richa Chadda, Manav Kaul, Akshay Oberoi, Saurabh Shukla
Co-Production with Kangra Talkies Production
2021
Tuesdays and Fridays
Anmol Dhillon, Jhataleka Malhotra, Zoa Morani, Reem Sheikh, Parmeet Sethi
Co-production with Bhansali Productions
2021
Mumbai Saga
John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, Prateik Babbar, Gulshan Grover, Rohit Roy, Amole Gupte
Co-production with White Feather Films
2021
Saina
Parineeti Chopra
Co-Production with Front Foot Pictures
2021
Koi Jaane Na
Kunal Kapoor, Amyra Dastur
Co-Production with Amin Hajee Film Company
2021
Sardar Ka Grandson
Arjun Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Neena Gupta
Co-Production with Emmay Entertainment and JA Entertainment;Released on Netflix
2021
Sherni
Vidya Balan
Co-production with Abundantia Entertainment;Released on Amazon Prime Video
2021
Haseen Dillruba
Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Harshvardhan Rane
Co-production with Colour Yellow Productions and Eros International;Released on Netflix
2021
Bhuj: The Pride of India
Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Nora Fatehi, Ammy Virk, Pranitha Subhash
Co-Production with Ajay Devgn FFilms and Select Media Holdings LLP;Released on Disney+Hotstar
2021
Shiddat
Sunny Kaushal, Radhika Madan, Mohit Raina, Diana Penty
Co-Production with Maddock Films;Released on Disney+Hotstar
2021
Dybbuk
Emraan Hashmi, Nikita Dutta, Manav Kaul
Co-Production with Panorama Studios;Released on Amazon Prime Video
2021
Satyameva Jayate 2
John Abraham, Divya Khosla Kumar
Co-Production with Emmay Entertainment.
2021
Chhorii
Nushrat Bharucha
Co-Production with Crypt TV, Abundantia EntertainmentReleased on Amazon Prime Video
2021
Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui
Ayushmann Khurrana, Vaani Kapoor
Co-Production with Guy in the Sky Pictures.2021
Atrangi Re
Akshay Kumar, Dhanush, Sara Ali Khan
Co-Production with Colour Yellow Productions, Cape of Good Films;Released on Hotstar.2022
Radhe Shyam
Prabhas, Pooja Hegde
Co-Production with UV Creations; Bilingual film (Telugu and Hindi)Releasing on 14 January 2022.2022
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani
Co-Production with Cine1 Studios;Releasing on 25 March 2022.2022
Anek
Ayushmann Khurrana
Co-Production with Benaras Mediaworks;Released on 2022.2022
Ek Villain Returns
John Abraham, Arjun Kapoor, Disha Patani, Tara Sutaria
Co-Production with Balaji Motion Pictures;Released 8 July 2022.2022
Cirkus
Ranveer Singh, Pooja Hegde, Jacqueline Fernandez
Co-Production with Reliance Entertainment, Rohit Shetty Picturez;Releasing 2022.2022
Thank God
Ajay Devgn, Sidharth Malhotra, Rakul Preet Singh
Filming2022
Adipurush
Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan
Co-Production with Retrophiles Production; Bilingual film (Telugu and Hindi)Releasing on 11 August 2022.2022
Animal
Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra
Co-Production with Bhadrakali Pictures Productions and Cine 1 Studios;Releasing on 5 October 20222022
Shehzada
Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala
Co-Production with Allu Entertainment,
Brat Films, Haarika & Hassine Creations;Releasing on 4 November 2022
2022
Untitled film
Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor
Co-Production with Luv Films;Releasing on 2022.TBA
Jhund
Amitabh Bachchan
Co-production with Tandav Films Entertainment Pvt.Ltd, Aatpat Films;Releasing 2022TBA
Dahi Cheeni
R. Madhavan, Khushali Kumar
TBA
Dedh Bigha Zameen
Pratik Gandhi, Khushali Kumar
Filming