BY ROBIN GHOSH
( FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST, BENGAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY)
KOLKATA, 21 SEPTEMBER 2023:
If you are interested to observe the changing business landscape of Indian cinema – you will find an astonishing turn of events.
Indian cinema has recently cracked a major success in monetizing revenue from the international markets.
And, secondly, in recent times, a new market has emerged – dubbed versions of regional films have attracted audience beyond their core market. In fact, audience from Hindi belt has started viewing Tamil and Telugu Films in dubbed version both in OTT Platform and multiplex and single screen format. Examples are Pushpa (Telugu) and Master (Tamil).
For decades, there have been attempts to unlock crossover films – but – not with much success. Examples are – Andha Kanoon(1983) were Rajnikant and Amitabh Bachhan were celebrity stars. Sadma which had Kamal Hasan and Sridevi as stars and a crossover film didn’t achieve much in the Box office.
The cross over films started having success in the market when streaming took off. This was around 2016 and now the market has grown – more tickets, more revenues. One estimate indicates that 994 million tickets were sold in 2022 compare to 1.46 billion in 2019. The Pan Indian Film has taken off, single screen are re-opening. The international market is also booming.
Siddharth Anand’s Pathan, Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani generated huge box office revenue.
Coming to marketing of Indian cinema in the international market, it is indeed a new discovery, a new found gold mine.
As of now, Sharukh Khan’s Jawan grossed around Rs 800 crores globally and half of it has come from international markets like US, Europe, UK and Central Asia.
For the producers of regional cinema a new turf has emerged – redesigning films in form and content which can attract – audience from the Hindi belt and at the same time garner international eyeballs.
The first set of consumers flocking to movie halls wherein TN, AP / Telengana it seems south Indian film makers felt that they have to break the inertia, and hence rolled out films that appeal to both multiplex and single screen audiences. This has been a real crack strategy.
The world has started watching Indian cinema. Every major film release is now being reviewed in the world’s top trade and news brand from variety and Hollywood reporter to The Guardian and The New York Times.
To my friends in the regional cinema the message is Go International!
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