Bollywood films carve a niche in the West ...

By Arpana, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi,

Sep 30 (IANS) Well-known Indian filmmaker Karan Johar's "Kabhi Alvida

Naa Kehna" on the subject of infidelity has been declared the biggest

Indian hit overseas. It has already crossed box office collections of

"Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" (K3G) in the United States.

Although the film, studded with Bollywood luminaries - Amitabh and

Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta -

bombed at the Indian box office, it is said to be a roaring success in

Australia and the United Arab Emirates. In London it has grossed

200,000 pounds already and is expected to overtake K3G in the next few

days.

These figures establish the fact that Bollywood films have finally

carved a niche for themselves in the international market, especially

the US.

"Films from India do more business in the US than films from any

other country," points out an article in The Washington File, an online

resource of the State Department's Bureau of International Information

Programmes.

One of India's largest film producers and distributors, Yash Raj

Films, reported last year that Bollywood films in the US earn around

$100 million a year through theatre screenings, video sales and the

sale of movie soundtracks. Yash Raj Films quoted the Internet Movie

Database, an organisation that tracks box office sales in several

countries.

Entertainment Weekly reported that the now $8 billion film industry

produces more than 900 movies a year in more than 20 languages. This

makes India the world's most prolific film producer.

K3G, released in December 2001, grossed more than $1 million in its

opening weekend in the US. It ended its one-month run in the US with

$2.9 million in box-office sales.

Surprisingly Yash Chopra's cross border love story "Veer Zaara",

which was another damp squib at India's ticket windows, followed K3G's

steps and brought in $2.9 million during a two-month period. It was

released in November 2004 in the US.

The growing popularity of Indian films encouraged Gurinder Chadha to

make a joint Bollywood-Hollywood venture "Bride and Prejudice". It was

a joint venture in more than one way - first it was an Indianised

version of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and second a Hollywood

actor played the lead along with Aishwarya Rai.

Recently, Bollywood's first superhero "Krrish" gave a tough fight to

America's Superman. According to the Los Angles Times, the Indian film

brought in $643,000 (in 59 locations) in its first three days in North

America, averaging about $11,000 per theatre.

It has been reported that tickets to the movie were sold days in

advance. In New York, almost half the crowd was non-Asian. Globally,

the film brought in $15 million in the first week, an all-time record

for an Indian movie.

"Krrish", released June 23, was screened at 75 venues across the

US.

"If more improvements are made in marketing and distribution,

Bollywood films can earn significantly more revenue," Gitesh Pandya,

editor of online movie sales-tracking site boxofficeguru.com, was

quoted as saying.

"Many of the bigger films are debuting in the top 20 box office

charts despite playing in only a few dozen theatres nationwide," he

added.

Over the last 10 years, Indian filmmakers have set their sight on

the US also when it comes to location filming. With growing numbers of

South Asians migrating to the West, sub-plots increasingly include

scenes in America. A few recent prominent films made in the US include

"Kaante", "Kal Ho Naa Ho" and "Chocolate".

With its movie industry gaining popularity in the West, Bollywood

enjoys instant access in American living rooms via 'Bollywood On

Demand' provided by Comcast Corporation, the largest cable television

provider in the US.

But Hollywood films have a slightly different story to tell.

In India, language plays a barrier and mostly dubbed versions of

Hollywood films are performing satisfactorily on Indian ticket

windows.

According to a study by Yes Bank in association with the Film and

Television Producers Guild of India, 35-40 percent of the total box

office collections of foreign films were contributed by dubbed versions

in 2004 compared to approximately 25 percent in 2001.

The trend has continued strongly into 2005, going by the collection

patterns for "XXX2 - The Next Level", which had the biggest opening

weekend collection among Hollywood films this year.

Gross box office collections for foreign films in India have

increased from Rs.1.3 billion in 2001 to Rs.1.8 billion, up 33 percent

in the four-year period.

The number of foreign films releasing in India increased at a slower

rate of 23 percent though gross box office collections per foreign film

moved up from Rs.20.1 million in 2001 to Rs.20.3 million.

The growth of multiplexes has also played a role in popularising

Hollywood films in the country. Multiplexes contribute 29-35 percent of

the Hindi film industry's revenues, and they are reckoned to have

impacted the collection pattern of foreign films as well.

Apart from good box office performance destination, India is luring

some of the prominent Hollywood names like - Michael Douglas, Sylvester

Stallone, Cameron Diaz, Peter Weir... who are making a beeline for

India to shoot or research film projects.

It has mostly been made possible by the power of Bollywood, one of

the largest film industries in the world based in Mumbai, that is

slowly but surely popularising India in the West.

The result is quite stunning. Will Smith has signed a deal with PVR

Cinemas and has expressed a desire to work with stars like Shah Rukh

Khan and Aishwarya Rai and also ace director Karan Johar.

Angelina Jolie is already on her way to India to shoot a film

concerning American journalist Daniel Pearl, who was killed in Pakistan

four years ago. The film is based on a book on Daniel's life by his

wife Marianne "A Mighty Heart" and will be shot in Pune.

Jolie, who will be playing the role of Marianne will be in India Oct

1, along with boyfriend Brad Pitt and their three kids. They are

expected to stay for a month.

With the growing popularity of Bollywood in the US and Hollywood

stars heading for India, it seems the boundary lines are fast

melting.