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This year's edition of the International Indian Film Awards saw Hollywood veterans Kevin Spacey and John Travolta dance to popular Bollywood numbers. It only reiterated how the Hindi film industry has breached borders.
With movies like Kick, Dhoom 3 and Chennai Express, Bollywood has raised the scale of its international releases. Rohit Shetty's Singham Returns, raked in Rs 14.5 crore ($2.5 million) overseas in the first weekend, having been released in around 500 screens abroad, simultaneously with its Indian release (15 August). Dhoom 3 aimed for the widest-ever Bollywood release in a single territory with 2,000 screens in China. It collected around $3 million in the first 10 days.
Localisation works
But experts believe that a wide release is only part of the battle won. "There are two types of audience in overseas markets. One is the subcontinent diaspora and the other is the foreign audience. The former is more aware and are usually targeted by Bollywood film-makers with simultaneous (day and date) releases," says Pranab Kapadia, president-distrbution, Eros International.
Eros recently took the Sridevi-starrer English Vinglish to Germany, almost a year after the Indian release to target the other kind - a foreign audience. Kapadia says a global audience requires some customisation. For English Vinglish, the studio cut out a couple of songs, dubbed the movie in German and changed its title to suit German sensibilities. Dhoom 3 in its Chinese release, too, bore a tranlsated name.
Dhoom 3's Chinese version was cut by 30 minutes. The studio, YRF, retained only those songs that took the narrative forward. The same version will be taken to Japan in December according to Avtar Panesar, vice-president, international operations, YRF.
Simultaneous releases involve posters, hoardings and TV ads much like an Indian media plan, while phased releases focus more on localising the content. Kapadia says that advertisers with an expat audience partner for film promotions as well, such as financial services brands (Western Union, a money transfer service, and ICICI Bank, for example).
Amrita Pandey, VP and head, marketing & distribution, studios, Disney India, says, "We have in-house marketing and distribution specialists in all key territories. The international studio-backing leverages the global distribution network, television and global Internet distribution deals across territories."
Content matters
The emergence of experimental fare has also opened up new overseas markets. The traditional markets include the US, UK and UAE and contribute around 75 per cent of overseas collections. But, movies like 3 Idiots, Vicky Donor and The Lunchbox did well in Japan, South Korea, Malayasia, France and Italy, as well.
Pandey says that even for the South-Asian diapsora, mainstream movies are not the only attractive content. Offbeat themes and treatment (Barfi!, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Taare Zameen Par, Jodhaa Akbar, Peepli Live) work too. "At our studio, we have experimented with concept cinema over the years that has been loved. This gives us confidence to go wider - with number of screens and territories. Festivals form a key part of the introduction. Territories such as Morocco, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Peru, Israel and France have now a dedicated audience base that are finally being accessed," she says.
Years of seeding
The studio will soon be taking Barfi! and 2 States to new markets. Pandey says theatrical releases in new markets have been preceded by years of television broadcast. Jodhaa Akbar was one of the first Hindi movies to be on Turkish television and on MBC (MiddleEast Broadcasting Centre). The Italian television network, Rai, used to premiere Hindi movies on weekends.
"Similarly, in Germany, Hindi movies found an audience on TV and home video. South Korean and German women love our movies and our stars!" says Pandey.
UTV Motion Pictures aims to take Kick to more than 42 countries through a combination of simultaneous releases in traditional markets and phased releases in non-traditional markets. The movie has already clocked Rs 75 crore internationally. Last year, Eros took Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram Leela overseas and it collected Rs 54 crore (Rs 110 crore in domestic collections). On an average, a big-budget Hindi movie earns around 40-50 per cent of its total domestic collections, overseas. The Lunchbox, however, made double the money in overseas than in India.
Once a movie's collections surpass the minimum guarantee given to the local distributor by the studio, the normal revenue-share model kicks in.
