NEW DELHI | BANGALORE: For Tamil film lovers, Engaeyum Eppothum (everywhere, all the time) is a much-awaited yarn on the love lives of four men and women travelling on two buses. But for Vijay Singh, the Mumbai-based chief executive officer of Hollywood's Fox Star Studios' India operations, there is much more riding on the flick being co-produced by the studio. This is among the early regional language productions by a Hollywood studio.
And Singh believes "the success of the film could redefine the strategy of foreign production houses in the Rs 5,000-crore regional language film industry (non-Hindi)".
In another part of Mumbai, Bhojpuri actor and film producer Ravi Kishan is deep in talks with an international production house. "Hollywood studios are trying to understand the Bhojpuri market and are looking at co-production opportunities," he says.
Around 75 Bhojpuri movies made every year generate more than Rs 200 crore in revenues. This is growing at 20% annually. Nearly 35 crore people watch Bhojpuri movies across northern India and overseas.
It's a similar story in other languages - 150 Tamil films and 120 Telugu flicks grossed over Rs 500 crore each. Nearly 60% of India's Rs 8,750-crore film revenues come from regional films, according to analyst estimates.
"One hit could open the floodgates for global production houses," says Jehil Thakkar, head (media & entertainment), KPMG India. "Fox, Viacom18 and Disney are waiting to produce films in Bangla, Malayalam and Bhojpuri."
Singh says Fox is discussing more coproduction deals in Tamil, Bangla and Malayalam. Walt Disney India released the Telugu fantasy adventure Anaganaga-O-Dheerudu in January. It was a co-production with K Raghavendra Rao.
"Once Disney completes the acquisition of UTV (its partner), it is expected to expand its presence in regional languages," says a senior executive with an Indian production house.
UTV is already focusing big on Tamil and Telugu," the executive says. Walt Disney India declined comment. Viacom18 is scouting for opportunities in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Punjabi.
"We are negotiating various business models with regional partners to enter the regional language movie space in the next 4-5 quarters," says Vikram Malhotra, chief operating officer at Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Warner Bros Pictures India signed a pact with Soundarya Rajnikanth's Ocher Studios for making 'live action' south Indian language films in 2008, but nothing has come of it yet. A Warner Bros India spokesperson did not comment on future plans.
Fox Star Studio's Engaeyum Eppothum, which releases on September 16, has been co-produced with AR Murugadoss, who directed Ghajini. It has worked out a backward integration model with Star's regional channel Vijay to promote the film. Singh says the first two songs of the movie have already made it to the Top 10 charts in Tamil.
Hollywood studios started their discovery of India by dubbing their flicks in Hindi and local languages. Nearly 40-50% of their local revenues now come from global flicks dubbed in Indian languages. Next, they tried their hand at Hindi films. The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name is Khan, which was distributed by Fox Star Studio, was a blockbuster.
Courtesy: TOI
And Singh believes "the success of the film could redefine the strategy of foreign production houses in the Rs 5,000-crore regional language film industry (non-Hindi)".
In another part of Mumbai, Bhojpuri actor and film producer Ravi Kishan is deep in talks with an international production house. "Hollywood studios are trying to understand the Bhojpuri market and are looking at co-production opportunities," he says.
Around 75 Bhojpuri movies made every year generate more than Rs 200 crore in revenues. This is growing at 20% annually. Nearly 35 crore people watch Bhojpuri movies across northern India and overseas.
It's a similar story in other languages - 150 Tamil films and 120 Telugu flicks grossed over Rs 500 crore each. Nearly 60% of India's Rs 8,750-crore film revenues come from regional films, according to analyst estimates.
"One hit could open the floodgates for global production houses," says Jehil Thakkar, head (media & entertainment), KPMG India. "Fox, Viacom18 and Disney are waiting to produce films in Bangla, Malayalam and Bhojpuri."
Singh says Fox is discussing more coproduction deals in Tamil, Bangla and Malayalam. Walt Disney India released the Telugu fantasy adventure Anaganaga-O-Dheerudu in January. It was a co-production with K Raghavendra Rao.
"Once Disney completes the acquisition of UTV (its partner), it is expected to expand its presence in regional languages," says a senior executive with an Indian production house.
UTV is already focusing big on Tamil and Telugu," the executive says. Walt Disney India declined comment. Viacom18 is scouting for opportunities in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Punjabi.
"We are negotiating various business models with regional partners to enter the regional language movie space in the next 4-5 quarters," says Vikram Malhotra, chief operating officer at Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Warner Bros Pictures India signed a pact with Soundarya Rajnikanth's Ocher Studios for making 'live action' south Indian language films in 2008, but nothing has come of it yet. A Warner Bros India spokesperson did not comment on future plans.
Fox Star Studio's Engaeyum Eppothum, which releases on September 16, has been co-produced with AR Murugadoss, who directed Ghajini. It has worked out a backward integration model with Star's regional channel Vijay to promote the film. Singh says the first two songs of the movie have already made it to the Top 10 charts in Tamil.
Hollywood studios started their discovery of India by dubbing their flicks in Hindi and local languages. Nearly 40-50% of their local revenues now come from global flicks dubbed in Indian languages. Next, they tried their hand at Hindi films. The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name is Khan, which was distributed by Fox Star Studio, was a blockbuster.
Courtesy: TOI
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