Salman-starrer Kick insured for Rs 300 crore

The makers of Salman Khan starrer Kick have left nothing to chance.

After securing the highly coveted Eid weekend for their film's release, they have now gone ahead and insured the film to protect it from potential losses.

The production package policy covers all film and set-related incidents and the media liability/errors and omission (E&O) policy covers the film from any legal liability related to its content.

Salman Khan's upcoming Bollywood flick, Kick, set to hit theatres on Friday, July 25, is insured for about Rs 300 crore.

Insured by multiple firms, the policies cover different areas such as production, publicity and distribution.

In other words, insurers would compensate for any mishap at production and post-production stages.

Kick is produced by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Pvt Ltd and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures.

Sources said the film has been insured for Rs 250-300 crore.

The production package policy covers all film and set-related incidents.

The media liability/errors and omission (E&O) policy covers the film from any legal liability related to its content.

Usually, film production houses take such a cover to avoid unnecessary delays and issues concerned with the script of the film.

Kick's distributor has taken a policy to cover distributors' loss of revenue that protects their interests from the date of release till 60 days.

Almost all firms take such policies that their business interests are not hampered due to a poor show at the box office.

While the production package cover has been provided by a public sector insurance company, the E&O cover has been provided by a private general insurer.

However, the production as well as media liability covers also cover any risks to the distributor, if any.

The distributors' loss of revenue is being provided by two public sector general insurers as co-insurance.

If the cover and risks associated are high, especially for superstar starrers, insurers divide the risks among two parties. Here, the risks could be divided 70:30 or any other ratio determined by the two insurance companies.

Alliance Insurance Brokers is the broker for this insurance package.

Sumant Salian, business head (media and entertainment), Alliance Insurance Brokers said, "We expect this film to be one of the biggest in the industry in terms of its revenue and also its risk exposure."

Film insurance, which was once considered an additional burden for film producers, has now become a norm.

Now, that both public and private general insurers are actively offering products catering to the needs of the film industry, the share of film insurance in the overall insurance business could touch 8-10 per cent in the next two to four, say experts.

At present, it accounts for about two per cent of the industry's total business.

As a concept, film insurance came into existence in the early 1990s.

Taal was one of the first movies to be insured. Premium for a film insurance policy is usually one to two per cent of the film's budget.

An applicant has to share a film's budget, actor costs, schedule and shooting locations.

Insurers compensate producers for production loss due to non-appearance of actor (date clashes with other films, personal emergencies) theft, injury, riots or natural calamities. Post-release crises, including theatre shutdown, are also covered.

Exclusions include acts of terrorism, perilous activities, disappearance, unexplained inventory shortage, war or invasion.

Some policies also cover advance paid to stars.

About a decade ago, the film insurance segment was dominated by public general insurers.

But now, private general insurers have also entered the scene.

New India Assurance and National Insurance Company are public general insurers that offer film insurance. Among private insurers, Future Generali India Insurance, Tata AIG General Insurance, and Iffco-Tokio General Insurance offer such products.

Image: Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez in Kick