ENTERTAINMENT : CAN BENGALI FILMS HIT PAN INDIA?

BY ROBIN GHOSH, ECONOMIST.

KOLKATA, 29 JUNE 2023:

Can Bengali Films foray into Hindi Circuit or Hindi Belt?

This question is popping up because

1. Success of Telugu Cinema in Hindi heartland – Pushpa. The Rise Part 1, RRR, Bahuballi are blockbuster hits
2. Allu Arjun, Prabhas, V. Ramcharan, Jr. NTR are now household names.
3. Tamil films also joined the bandwagon. Rajnikant’s 2.0 and Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyan Selvan garnered reasonable attention.
4. Kannada Cinema was not behind Kantara and the KGF franchise.
5. Hindi dub of Malayalam film 2018 has been released in 300 theatres in Hindi belt and is doing reasonably well.

There was a time when hindi films were produced in Calcutta and released throughout India. During the 70s and 80s quite a few remarkable films were produced like Ray’s Satranj Ke Khillary, Mrinal Sen’s Ekdin Achanak and Tapan Sinha’s Ek Doctor ki Maut.
The Bengal Film Industry which is currently going through an economic crisis due to paucity of screens could explore the southern experiment of making double version films and releasing in Hindi belt.

This challenge calls for an innovative and creative strategy: right story, universal appeal.

Essentially, marketing of a dubbed film is a marketing issue. Since the market in the Hindi belt is big, the promotional budget has to be substantial to nudge the hindi speaking audience to see the dubbed film.