The future of Media And Entertainment industry depends largely on the growth of Indian economy. The Indian economy is growing at a fast rate; thus, there is also a bright future in store for all the segments of the media and the entertainment industry. With the incomes of the people rising at a fast rate, people are spending more on their entertainment and leisure activities. India is poised to enter the period of immense growth in this sector.

The global entertainment industry is projected to reach US$ 1.8 trillion by 2015. The Indian Media And Entertainment industry is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 19% to reach Rs 83,740 crore by 2010. The expected CAGR of various segments of the Media And Entertainment industry in India till the year 2010 is as follows:

Radio - 32% Music - 1%

Television - 24%

Film Industry - 18%

Print Media - 12%

The projected size of the various segments of the Media And Entertainment industry in India till the year 2010 is as follows:

Radio - Rs 1,200 crore Music - Rs 740 crore

Television - Rs 42,700 crore

Film Industry - Rs 15,300 crore

Print Media - Rs 19,500 crore

Exciting new developments in the technologies used in Media And Entertainment industry are taking place. Animations, multiplexes, new distribution channels, the use of Internet, are redefining the entertainment industry. All these factors will favour the growth of Media And Entertainment industry in India.

Past, Present and Future of Indian Indie Films

Published in year 2099.

Let’s assume, someone nuked the World in 2020 and most of us perished. Few tribes in India, Africa and Amazon survived along with few saviors of the world living in Hollywood, to name them- Bruce Willis, Will Smith etc. even Mike Myers has made few attempts to save the world. He too survives.

The year is 2099, by now Mike Myers has lived for more than 120 years and Hollywood is invaded by Bollywood Czars and they want to launch a new star daughter –great grand daughter of a great star daughter – opposite Mike Myers. He’s given huge sum along with 10 boxes of Viagra. Mike Myers reports for shooting on wheelchair, Bollywood wants every inch of his stardom till he dies of longevity.

A ten year old girl enters his vanity for autograph, Mike signs. The girl is very curious of Bollywood Czars.

Girl- Mike, who are these people, and what are they doing in Hollywood, what happened to our studios?

Mike – these guys are from Bollywood, and they are making “Indie” film

Girl- what is Indie film?

Mike – I’ve got just 10 minutes left before a shot. So cut to brief.

In the beginning of 1900 major Hollywood studios like Warner, Paramount, MGM etc made a cartel where they financed huge budget films with huge stars and audience fed on their films which had limited creative content because mass audience don’t understand when the filmmaker stretches his/her creative freedom, hence new breed of filmmaker who didn’t have access to these studios made New York their home to search for funds, from individuals.

Filmmakers were funded by the odd real estate agent, part time bankers, media person etc. Productions used to work on strict diet, even if the major Hollywood star worked with independent production he/she reduced their fee to suit the budget, hence New York become home to producers with little money.

These films were different from mainstream Hollywood, had their own set of audience, not as many as mainstream but enough numbers to generate modest revenue, and many independent films got huge acclaim in European Festivals, and many got Oscars. These films were called “Indie” films. In the beginning most of the indie film had high doze of sex and horror genre but in no time its aesthetic and creative content superseded the trash

The giants like David lynch, Coppola, Lucas, Steven Spielberg were Indie filmmakers in 70’s before they became the brands they are now.Europe and Asia had no culture of studios so most of the directors like were Indie filmmaker or what they called in Europe “art house “filmmaker. Hence independent films or “Indie” films is a New York term which defines films all over the world which are high on story with New Age narrative

Girl – so then what is Bollywood ?

Mike – promise me not to tell these producers what I am going to tell you

Girl- hmm, promise

Mike – India too had a studio system when they started making early films.It wasn’t called Bollywood then. Few years later when Hollywood started making musicals, Indian film industry followed Hollywood. We moved ahead, got over with dance and song but India film industry got stuck in musicals for life time. Though few, very good makers of international acclaim have emerged from India but most of their films would break into odd physical motions after every 30 minutes.

One day they had a meeting, and all the producer- directors were honest enough to admit of copying everything from Hollywood, one smart man suggested, that why don’t we changed Hollywood to Bollywood! We don’t have to think much, just change from “H” to “B”, all nodded yes, it was a brilliant idea. That’s how Bollywood was coined and smart journalism made it a brand.

We’ve never told them on their face but out here they were called “The Pirates of East”

Girl – and what is Bollywood Indie?

Mike – I see little girl is very curious about Bollywood.Girl- they are the only ones who survived nukes, I want to grow up to be Bollywood actress. These days I am learning New Age Masala Bollywood Cart Wheeling. Language is not a barrier, English is accepted. So what’s bollywood Indie?

Mike – to be frank, Bollywood never had Indie culture or you can say they always had Indie culture, because Bollywood films were always funded by individuals, independent producers so as per definition they all made film within an Indie culture, if you define Indie films only with reference to funds.But if you define Indie film by its content then most of the film made were not Indie. Because even the new, so called independent producer wanted to make the same content as the bigger producer had already made, so in India its was only the star cast and budget that made distinction on Indie film.You can hardly count one or two films in India which were mounted on ideas and free creative flow. In a year Indian audience did get chance to watch one or two break through films.

Corporates did come in, early 2000 but they couldn’t survive long because Indian Corporates don’t know much about movie business and riding the economy wave.Movie business is an “American Thing”, even European and Chinese can’t understand.These Indian corporate went bankrupt cause public stopped investing, buying in their stock and what followed was the re-entry of Hollywood studios – after the initial setbacks-.they brought stakes in Indian corporates and learnt how business is done in India. Then Hollywood executives

started heading the companies, made content which was mix of Hollywood and Bollywood and they ruled.

When Hollywood entered India in 2015 most of the lesser know producers started making regional films with a release in run down theatres.This also gave birth to some very good filmmakers who fought the might of New Hollywood in Mumbai, these were the filmmakers who actually became real Indie filmmakers of India, and Indian audience loved their films. Their production budgets were constrained; films didn’t follow any big film structure.

These indie filmmakers were respected in Europe and as well in Hollywood; it was the beginning of Golden period in Indian film industry (by now the word Bollywood was only used by old hags)

Girl – then?

Mike – sadly, the world was nuked by Aliens, even I couldn’t save the world, stayed in bunker for a very long time, lost touch with outside world, aliens left and I re-emerged.Well my agent is still alive and he informed me that Hollywood doesn’t exist and that Indian film industry has survived. My little girl remember to marry an Indian, they can survive anything and can also live with aliens-

Unfortunately the real Indie Indian filmmakers have no money as of now and Bollywood hags are back with loads of money and masala, you will surprised they offered me a lead role with 18 old star kid where I have to act, dance and lip sync a songI have the credentials, thanks God I did a film called The Love Guru before the Aliens dropped in.

Indian Film Industry - The Forthcoming FutureBy Gils Titali

There is a clear cut relation between demand and supply. The same is the case with one of the most glamorous industries of the globe, the Indian Film Industry. The industry has undergone a plethora of changes over the last century or so and continues to evolve. The thing worth noting is that the changes are not only at macro level but at the micro level too. The whole set up is undergoing a holistic change and one can expect some really good quality products from various film production houses.

The industry being the largest in terms of volumes of films produced is indeed undergoing a mutation. The average consumer is asking for more variety and keeping with the demand, the industry has started traveling on uncharted domains. Once known for their gimmick flicks and illogical story line, the whole genre of Indian movies are transforming into something much more substantial. With a keen eye, if anyone prods the movies and content being released over

the last couple of years, one can easily note the difference between the qualities being presented in front of the audience.

The changes are not only in terms of better graphics and other stuff but move beyond that into better story lines and punches. Not surprisingly, movies which were once restricted to the Indian subcontinent are finding humongous takers across the world. Movies which were local in character are now mutating into entities having universal appeal.

A noted film star was seen commenting that people abroad mocking the Indian Film Industry are going to have their boots in their mouth in the decades to come. Indeed his prophesy is coming true and with the current scenario prevailing, it is but obvious that a movie buff is in for a treat.

Another aspect undergoing a marked change is the resurgence of actors that may or may not be good looking but are very fine actors in themselves indeed. Konkana Sharma, Rani Mukherjee and quite a few have their own fan following and have carved a separated niche for themselves over time. The fact remains to be seen that how much more this trend develops. The proclivity is not only in lead roles rather side actors are also gaining in terms of more gravity regarding acting. Actors such as Boman Irani and others are in the league of their own.

A crucial factor that is determining the industry these days is not only how a movie is made but actually much more than that and a movie does not actually finish with last shoot itself. A movie these days is publicized by lead actors and other casts. Reality shows have become a platform to publicize movies on small screen. Teasers of movies are actually rolled out on the web to create an overall image and a feeling of euphoria regarding the whole movie. In fact how well a movie is publicized these days goes a long way as to how it ends up.

A lot more is available at Masala city http://masalacity.com/indian-movies-history.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gils_Titali

The Indian Film Industry – An Analysis By Javed Rehman Khan

The Indian Film Industry has been one of the oldest segments of the Indian entertainment industry. The Lumiere Brothers brought motion pictures to India in 1896, and since then there has been no looking back. Today, India has the world's biggest movie industry that churns out around one thousand movies each year. The Indian Film Industry is witnessing mark improvements on all spheres - from the technology used in making films to the themes of the movies, exhibition, finance and marketing and even in its business environment. There is no doubt that the Indian Film Industry is finally getting

corporatized in that sense. 2005 was a watershed year for the industry. Indian Film Producers are also looking overseas for co-production. And the future looks immensely bright with a number of theatres poised to go digital.

The Television industry is also witnessing the mushrooming of more niche channels. Here again, emerging technologies such as broadband, Direct-To-Home (DTH), Direct-To-Theatre (DTT), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and digitalization will bring about more growth.

The Indian Film Industry is expected to grow by 13% over the next years, i.e. to Rs.176 billion in 2012. This projection speaks volumes as regards the potential of the Indian Film Industry. The Indian Film Industry is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced and the number of movie goers in a year.

Approximately around 1000, as part of the films is produced every year in different languages, out of which 70% are produced in the Hindi language.

Ironically, the revenue realized from these films is almost negligible compared to other global markets. The investment level in 2007 was in the order of Rs. 10,000 crores and a 19% p.a. growth is projected during the period 2007-2012.

One of the major policy initiatives has been the Government of India granting "industry" status to the entertainment sector in India including the film sector in 2001. This allows the sector to access institutional finance and clean credit for new projects. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) was the first to enter with a funding of Rs. 100 million with 16% p.a. interest rate. However, banking and institutional finance has not been forthcoming to the film industry even today.

A trend towards increased viewership abroad has been observed in countries like Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Middle East. In the recent past, as part of the cultural diplomacy, growing presence in prestigious film festivals and markets internationally has been encouraged and continued efforts are required in this direction for the film industry to -readily go global. The movement towards corporatization was inter alia the multiplex revolution, organized funding, foray of corporate, international co-productions, new marketing and revenue techniques.

The multiplex revolution changed the entire concept of viewing cinema. PVR Limited was one of the pioneers of this revolution in India in 1997, with the launch of the concept "multiple choice of movies under one roof". This furthered by interior decor of international standard and state-of-the-art sound and technology witnessed new revenues at the box office.

Financing, exhibition and distribution were directly affected. It also led to more organized and transparent box-office reporting. It is pertinent to note that even though the number of multiplexes is on the rise, the average number of screens is abysmally low when compared to other mature markets in the West.

This segment has seen an influx of major private players like Adlabs, Inox, E-City Entertainment, Wave Cinemas etc. In 2005-06, Shringar Cinemas, PVR Limited and Inox went

public and together, a sum of Rs. 4,144.45 million was raised during this period. Adlabs foray into the entire value chain of the film industry was a significant development in the Indian entertainment and media industry.

The biggest crisis plaguing the industry is the distortionary rate of entertainment tax within states in India. For instance, in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the tax rate is low and hence these states have witnessed huge investments in cinema infrastructure. This has however not been the case with the rest of the states in India. Therefore, to avoid market fragmentation and distortions, a uniform and rational tax structure is required for the growth of the film industry.

The funding of films either through non-banking finance companies, venture funds, corporate funds or through corporate finance, was a significant shift from the traditional film- financing model. IDBI was the first to start funding film production, that too, to big banners, big names and established film-personalities. The traditional model used amongst others distributors funds, personal finances of producers, money lenders. Obviously, there were inherent drawbacks attached to these modes of financing.

Moreover, even banks are not forthcoming in financing film projects. Therefore, venture capital and private equity investment was clearly seen as a solution based on their appetite for risk and a conducive legal framework.

Under the applicable law in India, there is no restriction on private equity investment into film making directly, without routing it, via venture capital regulations as venture capital. However, there are issues involved with such direct (non venture capital regulations routed) investment, which they could avoid by operating via applicable venture capital regulations.

Corporatization of the Indian Film Industry has led to increased international collaborations for co-production ventures, multiplexes, film financing etc.

Recently there has been interest in industry in India from international film companies and studios. For instance, Warner Bros. Entered into an agreement with Ramesh sippy, film producer, to fund three of his films: Saawaryia was co-produced internationally with SPE Films India Pvt. Ltd. Important co-production ventures include Percept Picture Company and Michael Douglas ' production company. Further Films and Sahara One tied-up with a Hollywood producer, Donald Rosenfeld. Adlabs tied-up with Hyperion, a Hollywood studio for an Indian film. iDream Productions launched their operations in U.K. with three films already being made. The year 2008 saw the biggest deal between Bollywood and Hollywood, with Anil Ambani signing the deal with Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks for stabilizing a production studio in Los Angeles. The studio intends to produce six films in a year.

India has signed several international co-production treaties with France, Brazil, Italy, Germany and Britain. The Audio-visual treaty, signed in 2007 with Brazil and Germany is expected to facilitate collaboration between film producers in each other' s country.

"TAAL" was the first film to be insured in India in 1998. Traditionally, film insurance covered only property damage and accidents, but today, the coverage of the "package insurance policy"

has been expanded to include insurance cover for the cast of the film, any physical loss or damage to the negative or videotape, material or facilities insurance, technical equipment insurance, props, sets and wardrobe insurance, production office content insurance, money insurance, travel insurance, public liability insurance. The concept of Completion Bond insurance has also been introduced into the Indian Market. Under this format, any additional cost over and above the budget drawn is funded through this cover. The policy holder is the guarantor in this case.

Given the wide-ranging nature of covers available in the insurance industry, today, what forms a critical part is the evaluation of the cover and scrutiny of the present and future liabilities. With the industry riding high on corporatization, insurance is essential for film producers and film financiers. However, the insurance industry for this sector in India is yet to take off in the true sense.

Apart from the availability of pirated copies of latest films, the dismal condition of theatres is the main reason for low occupancy levels in theatres in India. Therefore, the mantra adopted by the Indian film industry was "going digital". Digital cinema enables delivery of films through hard disks or electronic transmission, i.e. satellite. Further, digital prints apart from being cheaper are also less prone to duplication.

Hence, to take advantage of this, it is important to implement the plan of digital cinema across India. Hence, the untapped business opportunity for digital cinema is vast. Traditionally, at the time of release, the film is used to first get released in "A" class cities and thereafter circulation used to take place in "B" and "C" class cities. In this interlude, pirated copies were obtained to cater to audiences in "B" and "C" class cities. With wide spread digitalization, a movie can be released simultaneously across all cities; it also helps in limiting piracy.

The concept of revenue generation over and above box office collections marked a vital shift in the filmed entertainment business. These emerging avenues for generating revenue helped in two ways, firstly in de-risking the business of films and secondly in attracting Indian and overseas corporate.

The convergence of technology has fuelled growth in the Indian film industry as well. Internet and mobile technology are both converging with films. Today, both mobiles and internet technology have greater penetrations when compared to other platforms. Therefore, film producers, realizing the criticality of this partnership, are busy tying up with mobile companies and broadcasters on the internet. Music download, movie download, video-on demand etc are gaining in popularity.

Home video rights also emerged as a key revenue stream for producers, coupled with rising disposable incomes, affordable DVD and home theatre systems and a shorter-video-release window. Re-make rights, internet rights, mobile rights emerged as other alternative options, which made films an attractive investment for domestic and overseas corporates.

Though the share of box office collections is declining, it still contributes the maximum to the revenues of the film industry.

In 2007, a supplementary revenue generating scheme namely, Television Rights surfaced for Indian film producers. The reason for this was the variety of new channels being launched each year, the revenue generated by telecasting a film on television therefore increased in a significant manner.

The overseas market is beginning to form a critical fraction of the revenue collections. This market was until recently yet another untapped territory as producers were neither inclined towards investing in more prints nor in adopting effective marketing plans. The collections from overseas are estimated to reach Rs. 20 million in 2012 and on a per film basis; the share is expected to rise to 16% in 2012.

Other marketing techniques also surfaced with the maturing of the film industry. These included sale of mobile rights, ringtones, movie wallpapers, movie blogs, websites etc. Marketing spends on films have also seen a clear increase. For instance, in 2005, approximately Rs. 400 million was spent on innovative marketing techniques for the film Mangal Pandey.

Piracy is the act of making available counterfeit products of a product in which a person's intellectual property right vests. With the digital revolution, piracy has increased many fold in India, giving pirates access to technologies facilitating mass reproduction at much cheaper costs. The Indian entertainment industry, boosted by a rapid growth in the number of digital consumers, will earn as much as US$28.9 billion by 2012. Study shows that the Indian entertainment industry grew 17% in 2007 – a slight improvement on the 15% forecast, reaching US$12.82 billion, up from $10.95 billion in 2006. Amid the growth phase has been the overriding menace of counterfeiting and piracy, which has engulfed the industry.

The optical disc ease of access as a medium to transmit information with a simple computer has become a major source of piracy in India. It has been observed through international practice that the enactment of an optical disc legislation has resulted in considerable reduction of piracy. This is evident from the fact that one of the world's leading software provider s is feeling the short end of the stick with rising number of piracy against its products in India.

In India, counterfeiting and piracy costs the entertainment industry US$4billion and losses of approximately 800,000 jobs annually. What is therefore needed is to put together a holistic program to fight piracy drawing on the power of consumers, the judiciary and policy-makers. A much- needed impetus as regards import of pirated goods in India, the department of customs has notified the Intellectual Property Rights (imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007 providing for enforcement of rights intellectual property by giving powers to the custom authority to seize goods and even initiate suo-motu action inn this regard. It is notable that the department has further issued instructions to give effect to the rules in an appropriate manner. This arms the authorities with more teeth than the earlier laws and even provides for the intellectual Property owner to issue a notice to the violating importer.

The animation and gaming industry is one of the biggest areas of emerging opportunities in the Indian entertainment industry. The sector is growing fast with around 300 animation companies at present. In the year 2006, exports accounted for more than 70% of the revenues. The Gaming industry in 2007 grew at 32%, a rate higher than the animation industry, which was 24% in the

same time period. With the global animation and gaming market projected at US $80 billion and US $42 billion respectively by 2010, and with India expected to account for less than 2% of the global pie in 2010, there is a huge untapped prospect for India in the future.

However, the animation industry is plagued with several issues. Indian policy makers could take lessons from other countries. For example, Korea, China and Singapore have strong government support to promote their domestic industry. For instance, in Korea, tax breaks are provided to give an impetus to their domestic industry. Similar approach on the lines of tax holidays, exemption of service tax, sales tax on software, import duty on hardware etc are also sought to foster a robust domestic industry.

The highly technology-driven entertainment industry is surely making the task of policy makers difficult and more challenging. With convergence and fast technological innovation, the industry is grappling with regulatory issues across every industry segment. In this scenario, it is central for policy makers to appreciate the need to outline a comprehensive entertainment policy in India. This comprehensive entertainment policy should seek to enable efficient inter-operability between various distribution platforms. In India, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is the apex body, which formulates and administers rules, regulations and law relating to information, broadcasting, the press and films. The Ministry also has the responsibility for international cooperation in mass media, films and broadcasting and interacts with its foreign counterparts on behalf of the Government of India. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the regulatory body with the prime objective of providing fair and transparent policy environment in the telecommunications, broadcasting and cable television services industry. TRAI's policy recommendations should primarily promote level-playing field and promote fair competition. Policy with regards to different sectors in telecom, media and entertainment segment are issued without any common thread leading to convergence in regulations. This leads to a distortionary structure, which does not ensure inter-linkages in today's world. This is an impediment as firstly it does not ensure fair play and hinders competition and overall growth of the industry.

Hence, it may be useful to analyze the best practices in mature markets like the United States and European Union while examining the need for an entertainment in India.

United States of America – The office of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been entrusted with framing and envisioning the media policy for the United States. The US approach to media policy seems to emanate from the school of thought that deems it appropriate to provide specialist committees to undertake review and scrutiny of the various media factions with a single office entrusted with the responsibility of co-ordinating and synchronizing these policies and future goals.

European Union (EU) – EU is the instrumentality that has been entrusted with the responsibility of making regulations and codes for the member states to align their respective domestic legislations and approach distinct issues in a streamlined manner, and provide the way forward as a common think tank.

The EU approach to the media and entertainment industry is characterized by providing for oversight and guidance to the regulatory regime in member countries. The Audio Visual and Media Services directive covers all EU audiovisual media services (including on- demand services) in the digital age. It amends and renames the Television without Frontiers Directive, providing less detailed but more flexible regulation. And it modernizes TV advertising rules to better finance audiovisual content.

The European policy towards media and entertainment is characterized by ‘light-touch regulatory' approach along with sensitization to the increasing convergence across media platforms.

On the contrary, to the aforementioned regulatory and industry best practices, in India, despite having identified the interdependency between each platform, each segment ends up competing against the other and this more often than not, results in distortionary market structures. Therefore, the entertainment policy in India following the likes of the United States and EU must move towards convergence both in its regulation as well as in its operations.

In the converged world of today, each segment of the industry may be regulated by specialized offices. However, at the same time, an overarching body that ensures the regulatory framework of each segment of the industry does not impede the overall growth of the media and entertainment space must be established. This inclusive approach must be adopted to bring about a standardized policy and regulatory framework so that India's forecasted opportunities do not remain a mere pipe dream.

 

‘Future of film industry is digital’

The future of the film industry is in the digital revolution, so feels Rajjat A Barjatya, MD of Rajshri Media Ltd, the banner behind such films as Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Vivaah.

“The digital revolution is really opening up a lot of avenues for potential entrepreneurs,” said Barjatya at a function on ‘entrepreneurship in the film industry’ at the Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) on Thursday.

He added: “The digital revolution is changing the way people live and work and consume content,” adding that films are now being distributed through the Internet and on devices like PDAs, cellphones and computers.

Barjatya had digitised Rajshri Media Ltd by launching Rajshri.com, which he claims gets more hits than the BBC website. The company had also launched its 2006 production — Vivah — worldwide through the Internet.

The website, which largely offers free content to users and survives through advertising revenue, has channels dedicated to children, six different Indian language film industries, a job-search portal for aspiring actors, an astrology portal as also a portal dedicated to Baba Ramdev.

It also has a formidable presence in and distribution chain in social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter.

One of the latest ventures by film entrepreneur Shiladitya Bora, who also happens to be a MICA alumnus, was supposed to be based on the 35 mm format. But now the plans have changed.

Bora, the person behind last year’s Ahmedabad International Film Festival, recently launched a film society titled ‘Sunset Boulevard’ in multiple cities.

The society’s plan was to organise weekly screenings of world cinema and independent regional Indian cinema entirely in the 35mm format, beginning mid-April. When the society was launched, a multiplex in which to screen these movies was not yet identified.

Bora, who signed a MoU with Cinemax on Thursday afternoon, said the lack of infrastructure made it impossible to stick to the 35mm format plan.

“We will now convert all the 35 mm reels into digital format. This will not change the content, but the thing is that the existing infrastructure has moved beyond the 35mm format,” he added.

Barjatya concurs that filmmaking is all about storytelling, and all that really changes is the technique. He cited examples of the 3-D formatted Avatar, and the recent Indian film LSD, which were shot using digital cameras.

“The technique or format in telling a story may change, but filmmaking is all about telling a story,” he said

INDUSTRY & SERVICES MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Indian media and entertainment industry stood at US$ 12.91 billion in 2009, up 1.4 percent over the previous year. The industry is slated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent by 2014 according to a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and research firm KPMG.The phenomenal exponential development witnessed in recent years in media and entertainment has made these one of the most rapidly performing sectors in our economy. The emergence of innumerable TV channels and private FM radio operators has bridged distances and taken entertainment and information to every nook and corners of the country.Government's liberal economic policy paved way for dynamic local entrepreneurs to spearhead this boom.

Key Drivers for Entertainment Industry

Economic growth of the country in general and rising disposable income levels in particular

Gradually liberalising attitude of the Government

Greater interface with international companies

Privatisation and growth of the radio industry

Advancement in technology

Favourable regulatory initiatives

Liberalized foreign investment regime

Broadcasting Scenario in India

Annual growth rate for the television industry is projected to be 22% and for the radio industry, the growth rate is projected to be at the rate of 28% over the next five years.At present, there are 110 million TV households in India, out of which 70 million are cable and satellite homes and rest 40 million are served by the public broadcaster, i.e. Doordarshan (DD). Similarly, there are 132 million radio sets in the country.

Film Industry

Indian film industry stood at US$ 1.96 billion in 2009.The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent and reach US$ 3 billion by 2014. Growth drivers for the sector would include expansion of multiplex screens resulting in better realisations, an increase in the number of digital screens facilitating wider releases, higher cable and satellite revenues, improving collections from the overseas markets and ancillary revenue streams like DTH, digital downloads, etc, which are expected to emerge in future.

Television Sector in India

Television Industry in India has gained new momentum due to liberalization and enhanced enthusiasm shown by the broadcasters to seize a huge share of the entertainment and media industry. In 2009, television industry stood at US$ 5.65 billion registering a growth of 6.8 per cent. The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.5 and reach around US$ 11.45 billion by 2014.

Growth of TV Channels in India: The number of private satellite TV channels has grown astronomically over the years, from 1 TV channel in 2000 to 394 TV channels in 2009.The number of non-news & current affairs TV channels has grown from 0 to 183 and that of news & current affairs TV channels has grown from 1 to 211.

Foreign Broadcasters: A number of foreign broadcasters are down linking their channels into India. A total of 67 TV channels, uplinked from abroad, have been permitted registration to be down linked in India during the years 2006-2009.

DTH Service: DD DIRECT+ is India's first and only FTA Direct-To-Home (DTH) service

being provided by Prasar Bharati (a public service broadcaster). Apart from Prasar Bharati, Dish TV India Ltd., Tata Sky Ltd, and Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd., Reliance Big TV Pvt. Ltd., Bharti Telemedia Ltd and Bharat Business Channel Ltd have also been granted license for operating DTH services.

The eligibility conditions provide for total foreign equity holding, including FDI/ NRI/ OCB/ FII, in the applicant company not to exceed 49%, and within the foreign equity, the FDI component not to exceed 20%. It also provides that applicant company must have Indian management control with the majority representatives on the board as well as the chief executive of the company being a resident Indian.

Radio Sector

In 2009, Indian radio industry stood at US$ 171.38 million and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 % over 2010-14 and reach a size of US$ 360.32 million by 2014.

FM radio: In 2009, total 248 Channels are operational including the 21 channels operationalised in the phase I. In the financial year 2008-09 the Government has earned US$ 10.78 million (approx.) from various private FM stations.35 FM stations were operationalised during the year against 53 pending FM stations.

Satellite Radio: At present Worldspace India Private Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Worldspace Asia Pvt. Ltd. Singapore is providing services under Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval.

Community Radio: The policy on community radio was liberalized during the year 2008 to bring in the civil society and voluntary organizations working on not -for-profit basis under its ambit. Earlier only educational institutions were permitted to set up a community radio. Presently, 29 community radio stations are operational.

Policy Initiatives

Digitalization of Cable Services: Digital mode of delivery of content to television viewers has been given a thrust by introduction of conditional access system (CAS) in parts of four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The Government is now engaged assessing the net results of the first phase of implementation and laying down a path for their expansion in other areas.

Head-end In The Sky (HITS): To speed up the process of digitilisation of cable services located in non-CAS areas of the country, the Government is in the process of taking a view on the recommendations of TRAI on the issue of the proposed policy framework on the Head-end In The Sky (HITS) mode of delivery of content to the cable operators. This system will enable the packaging of content in digital form at the level of HITS operator who will uplink it to a satellite to be received by the cable operators and thereafter distributed in digital mode through cable network.

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV): The policy on Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) was announced in the year 2008 by the Government. This opened up the doors for another mode of distribution of signals by close to 400 permitted satellite TV channels through telecom networks. This gives a new digital visual experience to the Indian viewer with added value to cater to the ever-persisting demand of the subscribers for new and interactive services.

Mobile TV: Mobile TV is another mode of distribution of TV channels. A joint group of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has considered the regulatory and licensing issues of mobile TV and held that if mobile TV services are to be provided in the broadcasting mode using transmission of terrestrial or satellite broadcast signals, they will come under the domain of MIB and will be governed by the applicable laws. If they are provided by using the infrastructure of telecom service provider, they will fall in the domain of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT).

Policy Framework

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy

The FDI limits in the various segments of entertainment and media industry are highlighted below:

Advertising and Films:

100% FDI under the automatic route is allowed in Advertising sector

100% FDI under the automatic route is allowed in Film Industry including film financing, production, distribution, exhibition, marketing and associated activities related to film industry.

Broadcasting:

Terrestrial Broadcasting FM (FM Radio): Foreign investment, including FDI, Non resident Indians (NRI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) investments and portfolio investments are permitted up to 20% equity for FM Radio's Broadcasting Services with prior approval of the Government.

Cable Network: Foreign investment, including FDI, NRI and PIO investments and portfolio investments are permitted up to 49% for Cable Networks under Government route.

Direct-to-Home: Foreign investment, including FDI, NRI and PIO investments and portfolio investments are permitted up to 49% for Direct to Home under Government route. Within the limit of 49%, FDI will not exceed 20%.

FDI policy in the Up-linking of TV Channels is as under:

o FDI (including investment by FII) up to 49% would be permitted under the Government route for setting up Up-linking HUB/ Teleports;

o FDI up to 100% would be allowed under the Government route for Up linking a Non-News & Current Affairs TV Channel;

o FDI (including investment by FII) up to 26% would be permitted under the Government route for Up-linking a News & Current Affairs TV Channel.

Print Media

The regime of foreign investment in Indian entities publishing newspapers and periodicals is as follows: -

I.Foreign investment (including FDI) upto 74% in Indian entities publishing scientific/technical and speciality magazines/periodicals/journals, where only Indian editions of foreign scientific/technical/speciality journals etc. are being published with no foreign investment (including FDI) being made, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will give approvals on a case by case basis subject to prescribed conditions.

II.FDI upto 26% in Indian entities publishing newspapers and periodicals dealing in news and current affairs with suitable safeguards like verification of antecedents of foreign investor, keeping editorial and management control in the hands of resident Indians and ensuring against dispersal of Indian equity.

Recent Developments

During the year 2008-09, 15 proposals for FDI in Indian entities in the news and current affairs sector have been approved. Further, permission has been given for publication of 189 Indian editions of foreign speciality, technical and scientific magazines. Permission has also been given for publication of 106 specialties, technical and scientific magazines by Indian entities, who have taken FDI.

As a further measure of policy liberalization, Government has allowed Indian edition of foreign news magazines for facilitating wider readership at affordable prices. Also, Government has recently announced facsimile edition of international newspapers.

Government has reviewed the print advertisement policy and brought about changes to support small and medium newspapers. As per the policy, advertisement support has been increased from 10% to 15% for small newspapers and from 30% to 35% for medium newspapers, in money terms. Minimum publication period requirement drastically reduced from 36 months to 6 months for regional languages newspapers.

Future Outlook

Indian Film Industry is one of the world's largest with more than 1000 movie releases and over 3 million movie goers annually.

In 2009, the print media industry stood at US$ 3.85 billion and showed a moderate growth of 2 %. The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent and reach around US$ 5.90 billion by 2014.

Number of pay DTH subscribers is estimated to grow to around 28 million households by 2013.

India's demographic composition (70% below 35 years) ensures an attractive market for entertainment.

4 P's of Film Marketing - Kites

by Madapps Marketing Consultancy on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 12:06am

Product / Plot Synopsis

From media reports, Kites looks like a love story that goes beyond boundaries. From trailers it appears to be a romantic thriller with lots of dance, action, love and betrayal.

Place [Distribution] Movie is releasing in Hindi as well as in Englsih. Premiere of the English version took place in London and new York.

The film is marketed and distributed worldwide [60 countries] by Reliance Big Entertainment. Owing to its international release, kites will earmark the widest release ever for an Indian film. The film is reportedly a high budget movie and has world rights valued at $35 million.

Media reports from Big Cinema's suggest that they are running as high as 30 shows of kites a day. According to be this is as good as creating roadblock and is very much unfair on viewers part as they are left with no choice but to watch Kites. Imagine your girlfriend insisting on watching a movie this weekend and you are left with no choice but to watch Kites to keep her happy [no matter how eagerly you want to catch some other movie].

Price Average ticket price in multiplexes in metro is between 200 -300 Rs and ticket price in Tier 2 Towns is Rs 100. Overall pricing strategy is that of maximization of Profit in short term. I think distributers and exhibitors are not quite confidant about the content to be able to pull the crowd after first weekend.

Promotion

Coming to all important part of selling a movie after product itself, let’s see what promotional activities Reliance Big Pictures who are marketing and distributing the movie did.

1.Trailers – I think strength of the movie as far as Indian movie market is concerned is its Mexican actor Barbara Mori. Hence rightly so, trailers were more focused on chemistry between Hritik roshan and Barbara mori than actually providing hints to the plot which frankly looks nothing new except for may be something to do with Kangana Ranaut and Kabir Bedi. In India they are playing with the strength of the movie – Barbara Mori and Hrithik Roshan.

2.Music Release -To help promote the film, mini "music videos" have been released online. Each video is about 1 minute in length and feature a song from the soundtrack, while the video itself contains different scenes from the film. Musical promos look dull too because of not so good music track.

3.Hoardings / Posters

There are set of usual posters with one still. But then there are some very innovative hoardings which consists of 4 stills from the movie and appear to be like the trailer of the movie and helps viewers develops his / her expectations from the movie.

4.Media Presence

Media Presence of Kites started with [Planted?] rumor around blossoming affair between Hrithik and Barbara and how Roshan Son’s personal life is in danger and stuff like that. This started almost a year ago with videos on the internet supposedly showing intimacy between the two which I believe is useless since most of the movie goers in Mumbai and Delhi circuit would by now know the gimmicks bollywood play with co actor’s love affairs when the movie is slated to release. I have specified Mumbai and delhi circuit because that’s where 70 % of the revenue comes from.

Till date I haven’t read or saw anything in a form of media about the movie other than Barbara Mori except for leading pair’s presence at cannes. This is very unlike marketing of Rajneeti about which I will write in my next note.

5. Online Marketing campaign

Social Network The movie has very active facebook page since feb 2010 and with around more than 25000 fans it’s admins are quite active In engaging fans with the movie and creatng buzz around the movie. They are not so active on orkut though which as a marketing tool has lost its popularity in India in recent months.

Youtube As mentioned earlier, movie has released 1 min promotional song videos on you tube to promote its music.

6. International Film Festival

This is the first time an Indian studio is promoting a film at prestigious Cannes Film Festival with an elite cocktail event. They have also acquired time slots at the two digital screens adjacent to the red carpet entrance of the Palais to screen KITES teaser for the entire duration of the festival. This according to me is BIG thing for promoting the movie worldwide.

7. Brand Tie- Up

Provogue, a leading clothing brand that features Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador has launched its Kites clothing range. The trailer of the brand photoshooet was played at the showing of Housefull (2010 film).

My Verdict I think looking at overall [negative] marketing of Kites, people will go to watch Barbara Mori for first 2 weekends when producers can make money. After which movie will come down unless it runs at reliance Big Cinema’s for some more time. Hrithik do not have any new thing to offer with the movie. Storyline doesn’t look new. I am not too optimistic about the movie in long run.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/madapps-marketing-consultancy/4-ps-of-film-marketing-kites/124827250870593

Indian Movie Marketing

1. Overview of Indian Film Industry and Market

India is the world's largest producer of films by volume - producing almost a thousand films annually. However, revenue-wise, it accounts for only 1 percent of global film industry revenues.

Components of the Indian film industry

The Indian film industry comprises of a cluster of regional film industries, like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. This makes it one of the most complex and fragmented national film industries in the world. These regional language films compete with each other in certain market segments and enjoy a virtual monopoly in certain others. The most popular among them is the Hindi film industry located in Mumbai, popularly referred to as “Bollywood”.

Bollywood

Out of the 200 Hindi films made in India each year, around 150 are made in Bollywood. These Bollywood films are released throughout India on both big and small screen formats, with several of them being screened overseas as well. Though there have been sporadic instances of regional films, enjoying a national release or even an overseas release, virtually all films having a national audience, are made in Bollywood. It accounts for over 40 percent of the total revenues of the overall Indian film industry, which is currently estimated at INR 59 billion. It is estimated that only INR 50 billion finds its way to the industry coffers, with the balance INR 9 billion being cornered by pirates.

Regional Films

The major regional film industries are Tamil and Telugu, which together earn around INR 15 billion, followed by Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi. With increased viewer exposure to a plethora of entertainment options on satellite television, the number of regional films produced annually has fallen from around 800, three years ago, to around 650 currently.

English Films

Big budget Hollywood films are beginning to make a mark, with their dubbed versions making inroads into the semi-urban and rural markets. On a cumulative basis, box office collections of foreign films grew in both revenues and number of releases, from INR 1 .5

billion from 60 films in 2003 to INR 1 .8 billion for 72 films in 2004.

With around 12,900 active screens (down from 13,000 in 1990), out of which over 95 percent are standalone, single screens, India's screen density is very low. In contrast, China, which produces far less films than India, has 65,000 screens, while US has 36,000.

2. 4Ps concept applied on the movie industry as a whole

PRODUCT

For a movie to selected by the audience on the basis of the content, it needs to be clearly identifiable in its marketing — genre, stars, story, special effects, style all need to be presented aptly. A movie product is the intellectual property that can be ported to a variety of deliverables: theatrical exhibit, non-theatrical exhibit, video tapes, DVDs, CDs of the soundtrack, collectible editions, television and cable broadcast, Internet-served

etc. Then there is merchandising such as clothing, toys, games, posters. Another product dimension is that of franchise rights, endorsements, product placements and a host of offshoots that are bought and sold, leased and rented. The movie business is one of the most complexes in the communications industry because of its creativity, its diversity and its continual explosions of technological delivery options.

PRICE

At first glance, pricing in the movie industry seems very standardized. At any multiplex is cinema hall, a movie ticket costs the same for all movies, doesn’t it? But if we look into the broader definition of the movie product just defined, then the prices fluctuate widely.

A distribution contract can be structured in many ways that result in very different returns for the producer, the key creative talent, and even the distributor. Elements that are negotiated include:

? Theatrical release schedules ? Territories and market segments ? Revenue splits, percentages and order of payment ? Promotion budgets (P&A) Apart from these pre consumer stage pricing differences, we see a wide range of pricing structures such as theatrical tickets, group 4-wall rentals, title rentals, title sales, special releases, subscription services, festivals, downloads, delayed broadcasts, pay-per-view, licenses, bundled deals, cable channels and now we have movies and games on cell phones, on iPods -- on electronic billboards.

Scriptwriters sell to producers. Producers sell to investors and distributors. Distributors sell to exhibitors and chain stores and Internet dealers. Retail stores sell to communities (groups) and individuals and families. Families "sell" to friends and more family. Even word of mouth has a price.

Pricing has become a global issue. The release of a DVD has always been timed to protect the theatrical revenue model. But with piracy at record levels globally, a variety of pricing -- and timing -- strategies are being tested, like pricing the DVDs very cheaply.

PLACE

With the ever-inventive entrepreneurial energy in the entertainment world, people find venues for entertainment sales not only through traditional theatres and broadcast, but on street corners, in homes, over the Internet, over phones (caller tunes), through clubs

etc. Options for delivery of the movie product are exploding: movies, games, music, news, and educational content. Distribution takes place through theatres, rental stores, sell-through stores, catalogues, non-theatrical groups, the Internet, even cell phones and the latest new media gadget.

PROMOTION

Promotion is a powerful marketing tool, not only during the premier of a new product, but throughout its lifecycle. Producers create the end-product for the consumer, but they seldom market that product directly to the consumer. They market their story to investors and distributors. Distributors market to exhibitors, retailers and sub-distributors. The theatre exhibitors, retailers, store clerks, and Internet strategists market to the end consumers. And then, to top off this complex stew, some consumers even market to other consumers – their family, friends and co-workers.

3. Overview of the film making business

This overview is required to understand the exact motivation behind the promotion and publicity of a movie.

In general the movie making business can be summarized as follows:

The scriptwriter or director or a producer comes up with a concept. The producer tells the scriptwriter to create a script based on this concept. The producer then officially hires his core team of director, scriptwriter, music director, lyricist, editor, cinematographer and choreographers. The cast for the film is decided based on the requirement of the script. This process is called casting. Location hunting is done for shooting the film. The director gives an estimated budget and schedule to the producer for the film shooting. The producer arranges finances from financers based on this budget. The film is shot. The completed film is processed in studios and the film is finally ready for release.

At this stage the publicity and promotion phase of the movie begins for the producer. The main aim of the producer is to sell his movie at a high price to a distributor. India is a vast country and the market has conventionally been divided in 9 territories by the distributors. A distributor from each territory buys the rights to distribute the film to the theatre owners in his territories. To get a high price from the distributors, the producers publicize the film in order to pull crowds to the theatres. The distributors buy the movie at a price suitable for their territory. The distributors estimate how the film could work in their territory based on the pre-release promotion of the film and the past record of

the people associated with the film (For example, the banner, the director and actors). If the music of the film has done well in the market, the producer definitely gets a higher price from the distributors.

Before the release, the producers share some information of the movie to the distributors through trade guides. The trade guides give the distributors an idea about what the theme of the movie is, how the movie is being promoted, does the theme suit their territory, what theatres in their territory would be ready to screen this movie etc. The distributors compare different trade guides and decide which movie they want to buy. The distributors then release the movie prints to theatres. The distributors and theatre owners get money through the ticket sales. Producers also get a percentage share from the ticket sales.

4. Classification of movies from a producer’s or distributor’s point of view

The movies in India have been broadly classified into following categories for publicity purposes. A: Gentry movies. B: Mass movies Gentry movies are the ones which are made for the audience with special tastes. Movies for kids, college students, young couples etc fall in this category. These movies have done well recently due to the advent of multiplexes. Mass movies are made for audience who are interested in pure entertainment value of the movie. These movies appeal to a broad set of audience in the middle class and lower class of the society like the daily wage workers, rickshaw pullers etc.

5. Classification of movies as products

Here movies have been classified into different genres and there attributes which could be used for promoting movies have been identified.

I. Entertainment movies.II. Art movies

I. Entertainment movies:

These are also called Mainstream Cinema or Commercial Cinema. These can be further divided into following categories:

1. Action / Romantic movies.

Also called Masala films, potboilers. Include Action movies and love stories. E.g.: DUS, Om Shanti Om etc

Attributes:? Item numbers? Catchy Music? Big openings? Action sequences? Stardom of the lead actors plays the most important role in deciding the fate of the movie.

2. Patriotic / war movies

E.g. Border, Sarfarosh, Rang de Basanti, Lakshya, LOC, Hero, Indian, Haqeeqat, Deewar.

Attributes:? Patriotic songs? War setting? Terrorism? National flag? Army setting3. Socially relevant movies

E.g. Taare Zameen Par, Rudaali, Page3, Corporate

Attributes:

? Meaningful songs

? Generally star cast is not heavy.? Generally critic’s award winning. ? Commercial success notwithstanding, social message gets a high importance.? Mostly based on real life stories.

4. Family movies

E.g.: Hum aapke hain kaun, Hum saath saath hai, Baagbaan, Viruddh, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Waqt

Attributes:

? Generally, a story of a family and what happens to them in a crisis. ? Indian families and the relationships between them are highlighted? Celebrating Indian culture using modern production values.? Generally, a great Indian lavish wedding is also shown. Sometimes, it becomes the central theme of the movie.

5. Biographical Films

E.g. Guru, Bose the Forgotten Hero, Sardar, Gandhi, The Legend Of Bhagat Singh

Attributes:

? Controversies help a lot.? Mostly facts which are unknown to general public are shown.? Story is the main strength, followed by directors and actors involved.? Music is generally on a back foot. 6. ComedyE.g hungama, kunwara, Style, bheja fry, Garam Masala, hera pheri, golmaal, Chupke Chupke, Khosla ka Ghosla

Attributes:

? Director’s reputation as a comedy film maker.? Funny sequences in trailers.? Actors involved.? Funny trailers.

7. Children’s Films

E.g. Makadi, Bhoothnath, Koi mil gaya, Hanuman

Attributes :

? Supernatural thrill.? Child actors.? Animated films. Cute faces of the animated characters.? Pranks played by the characters in the movie.

8. Horror/Thriller Films

E.g. Raaz, 100 days, Danger, Bhoot, Kaun , gumnaam, mahal, woh kaun thi.

Attributes:

? Music which creates a suspenseful environment.? Fast paced story line.? Eerie sequences and songs.? Generally challenges the audience to dare to watch them.? Screaming trailers.? Generally trailers shown with dark coloured background.

II. Art CinemaE.g Fire, Ardh Satya, Astitva, Raincoat, Mandi, Dor, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

Attributes:

? Taboo subjects are raised.? Release timing of the films are mostly consistent with one or more incidents in news which are related in one way or other to the subject of the film.? Actors are generally not from main stream cinema and are considered to be better actors then their commercial cinema counterparts.? Controversial nature of the theme of the movie helps generate people’s interest in the film.

6. Publicity of movies

The publicity of a movie takes place at two levels:

? At producer level.? At distributor level.

At producer level the publicity of movies is done at a large scale with a national or international scenario in consideration. The budgets at this level are very big and the media used are teaser on TV channels and cinema halls, radio, national magazines etc. The star cast of the movie is also associated with publicity at this level. This publicity is aimed at all the target audience in the country for creating a “buzz” about the movie.

At distributor level the publicity is mainly for making the target audience aware about the theatres where the movie is playing and the timings of the movies. Also, this publicity tries to reach the audience who may not have access to cable TV or radio. But the scope of this is publicity is limited to the distributor’s territory. The budgets allocated for such publicity are comprehensive but smaller than the budgets at producer level. The media used at this level are posters, hoardings, local newspapers etc.

7. How different media is used for publicity of movies?

Gone are those days when plastering a few posters on the walls and hand-painted Billboard signs were the only means available for a film’s publicity; Actors barely promoted their films, film-makers never ventured in-front of the camera and our main stream media couldn’t care less.

Today’s Bollywood presents a very different scenario. With over 1000 films releasing in a given year, all of them fighting for a common goal i.e. the box-office success, the multiplex domination – it has become a necessity for those involved, to do whatever it takes to enforce that “must-watch” feeling among the masses in order to win this very competitive rat-race. And yes, the Indian media plays a vital role in this process.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is a fine example of the above. His perfectly knitted marketing tactics, be it non-stop television promotions, tying up with news-channels and popular online sites, birthday celebrations with the Indian media, the 6-pack (over-toned) tag line, cricket matches and last but certainly not the least, the OSO clothes line – in short, King Khan took the job of film-marketing to a whole new level. And as a result, despite a weak storyline and very mediocre performances; Om Shanti Om ended up being a super duper box-office success.

The mainstream advertising for movies, targeted at the end users is done via TV. Trailers, songs, star appearances on TV shows, interviews, "making of", reviews and movie news, all forms a part of the promotion strategies adopted by film makers.

Movie trailers form the conventional part of advertising movies via television. Over the years trailers have been transformed into teasers, that give little info about the movie while buzz amongst the audience about the movie.

Songs have long been used to generate interest in the movie. The recent years have seen use of a special category of songs called "item songs", songs which are shot and included in the movie especially for the purpose of advertising the movie and pulling in crowds. Nowadays, these item songs are shown on TV in full length just for advertisement purpose. They have no relation whatsoever with the movie's storyline.

Then there is "special appearances" made by the actors, actresses and even the people behind the scenes – producers and directors on various TV shows, like talk shows, reality shows etc. This provides for a free publicity channel for the film makers.

The "making of" a saga which is couple of hours long shown on the TV gives an insight into what went into the production of the movie. It helps generate interest in the movie by giving away parts of the story and some scenes, making the viewers salivate to know about more.

Other Major Channels of Marketing (apart from TV)

Radio According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India., there were approximately 132 lakh listeners of FM radio in the major metropolitan cities across India. Tie-ups with radio channels for marketing films are becoming increasingly common. Common promotional activities include on-air contests, interviews with film stars and music composers, shelling out complementary movie tickets, an option to meet the stars in person, music and movie premiere coverage, etc.

Taking the case of the tie-up between Big 92.7 FM with Yashraj Films as its exclusive on air partner for the film Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom.

The station featured interviews of Preity Zinta, Lara Dutta, Bobby Deol, and music directors Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy during the music premiere. Listeners could win a chance to be part of an exclusive music video 'Jhoom Baby Jhoom' featuring common people dancing to the title track, in addition to getting an opportunity to interact with the stars of the film.

Prior to the launch of the movie, Big 92.7 FM provided special content around dancing, featuring dance experts from Bollywood, including the film's ace choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant giving dancing tips to listeners. Also, listeners got the chance to hear each of the stars of the film all day from 9 am - 7 pm. Listeners will also got the opportunity to win prizes like free music CD’s and movie tickets of the film by participating in the 'couples contest' wherein each partner is asked questions about the

other to gauge on how well they 'Jhoom together'.

Mobile phones

India is the fastest growing market in the mobile world. The dramatic evolution of communications technology, from download speeds and battery life to compact form factors, screen sizes and resolution, as well as memory enhancements, means mobile devices are now capable of delivering a compelling, high quality and uniquely personal viewing experience. Not surprisingly, ringtones, wallpapers and caller tunes are very popular nowadays. However, for mobile movie marketing there is life beyond these services. Consumers want SMS short reviews as well as schedule of theatres on the mobile. There is also scope for television channels to send out SMS alerts half an hour before a movie is going to be aired. A substantial segment of the population is favourable to games related to films. More importantly, a large population prefers to read a film’s review before seeing it. So television movie channels and film distributors need to place reviews in WAP portals that are frequently accessed. Contests and dynamic updates available on cellular networks generate repeat look ups. This way, a buzz about the theme of the movie marketed is ensured. The tactics used in promoting movies like Veer Zaara and Swades through R World consisted of automated calls from Veer Zaara stars Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta to consumers' mobile phones, followed by SMS contests, which were a huge success.

Internet

The internet is increasingly emerging as a profitable medium to create hype and promote new film. There are approximately 30-40 million internet users in India today. Internet as a medium to promote a film is a viable option as it offers a wide platform of activities like reviews, trailers, bulletin boards, email, and blog for marketing movies which in turn creates a buzz about the film. Industry experts believe that the cost effectiveness of the online medium is one of the reasons for its popularity. An online campaign on the other hand costs only one-tenth of the amount a producer will spend advertising the film in the print medium. A recent survey conducted by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) says that close to 90% internet users surf the net for movie related information and 42% of the surfers use the net for this purpose more than once a week. The survey also found that 54% of the net users watched at least one movie per month. Among the first studios to have started off promoting films on the Net was Yashraj Films. Their Mujhse Dosti Karoge went on to win the prestigious ABBY Gold award for its Internet marketing initiative in 2004. To promote Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna, the entire song Where’s the party tonight was featured on MSN’s desktop TV. MSN also designed a theme pack on Messenger based on the film’s characters. RDB’s characters wrote interactive blogs; Anthony Kaun Hai ran an online contest with winners meeting

the stars. Lage Raho Munnabhai’s promotion on MSN India consisted of video clips from the film aired on desktop TV airs, and a web link to the official movie website with storyline, information on cast, crew, music, photos and screensavers, trailers, contests and interactive features. Online promotions also enable filmmakers to tap the overseas market. NRIs are also passionate about movies and like to download wallpapers, ring tones and take part in celebrity chats.

8. Alterative marketing methods

Teasers

In the world of entertainment branding and promotion, where promos and trailers create viewer perceptions, teasers play a very vital role when it comes to films and their marketing.

A teaser is all about illusion and aura. It is about creating that ‘glimpse of mystery’ about the film just before its theatrical release that will eventually attract more audiences to the theatre with a motive to demystify the perception created.

A teaser for a film is essentially created to drive in the maximum number of viewers to the theatre in the first week of the film’s release. This is because post week one, the fate of the film at the box office completely depends upon its content. Thus, by using effective teasers, producers seek to drive in maximum viewers for the film during the first week and generate maximum revenue.

Creating a teaser for any film involves huge financial risk. Hence, creating it effectively becomes a must. An effective teaser needs to create a lot of anticipation. It needs to mock, annoy and arouse. Ideas need to be spinned off differently and effectively. A well knitted teaser should not steal any scene from the movie; however it has to get the core idea right. The teaser of the low-budget American horror film “The Blair Witch Project”, released in 1999 showed an “absolute black” screen powered by a strong voice over. The voice over was filled with “intense fear that generated post the completion of a summer project.

The teaser does not speak anything about the film. It only throws a punch of fear at the audience, thus encapsulating the core idea of the film - fear. This is what an effective teaser is all about. It creates a mystery about the film thereby calling the viewers to watch the film and demystify the mystical.

As aptly summed up by Frame by Frame creative director Anita Olan ,“Teasers are always the best way to engage the curious viewer; and to tempt, engage, and create anticipation amongst the viewers, one need to build effective teasers. Also remember, it’s always ok to mislead. In fact deceive the viewer first, only to leave him with a surprise at the end.”

Co-branding and Merchandising

Co-branding is an arrangement that associates a single product or service with more than one brand name, or otherwise associates a product with someone other than the principal producer. The typical co-branding agreement involves two or more companies acting in cooperation to associate any of various logos, colour schemes, or brand identifiers to a specific product that is contractually designated for this purpose. The object for this is to combine the strength of two brands, in order to increase the premium consumers are willing to pay, make the product or service more resistant to copying by private label manufacturers, or to combine the different perceived properties associated with these brands with a single product.

Points to make note of while co branding with respect to movies

Matching the target

Co-branding movies and products succeeds when the movie and the brand target the same audience. In case of movies like Krrish, children form the major audience. This means that brands targeted at children should be used to reap maximum benefit.

Also, it is mutually beneficial. Pidilite Industries’ Acron brand of “Rangeela” colours has brought out special packs based on the film. Commercials on cartoon channels are inspiring juvenile viewers to “celebrate the magic of Krrish with ‘Rangeela’ colours”. The co-branded colours are also being made available at the multiplexes where the film is being screened.

Intelligent co-branding

Using brands to promote movies can be more effective when the branding is in tune with the film. In the case of Krrish, no doubt the aura of the Superhero can be expected to rub off on the brand. However, the co-branding will work better when it is designed intelligently so that it seems natural for the brand to be associated with the film. An important variable in co-branding is “the fit between the movie and the brand”.

For example, HLL chose to associate its Lifebuoy soap brand with Krrish HLL chose Lifebuoy over the other brands since the brand is all about protection, and Krrish’s character is all about protecting the world from enemies.

Merchandising

Now the story does not end with the leading man and lady living happily ever after. It goes to add T-shirts, mugs and other paraphernalia.

Be it the super hero Krrish, the common men turned heroes in Rang de Basanti, the romantic pair in Fanaah or the animated god Hanuman; they can be spotted on T-shirts, on your kids toys, around youngsters’ necks, even in your refrigerators and many more such places not marked for them earlier.

Riding on the popularity of these films, makers in India are going the George Lucas (Star War maker) way whose merchandise till date has reportedly touched $20 billion in estimated revenue. The figures in India haven’t skyrocketed to such heights but with the way things are shaping up, merchandising is fast making headway.

The reasons are more than the fact that merchandise is an established revenue stream; it not just serves as link between fans and brands but also provides a great publicity base and a recall factor for the movies.

The makers of Krrish tied up with Pantaloon Retail India Limited for manufacturing and marketing of Krrish merchandise. For Rang de Basanti the makers joined hands with Coke for exclusive limited edition coke bottles, which had the images of the stars on it. They also came up with a limited collection of Spirit of RDB T-shirts with Provogue. For Fanaah Yash Raj Films had three different products, including a pendant sported by Aamir Khan in the film. While Adlab films struck a deal with Mattel toys for the Superman toys apart from T-shirts, key chains and bags for Superman Returns.

Whatever may be the benefits attached, merchandising is a proven winner with a huge potential to be explored and filmmakers are all set to take a plunge in it.

9. Music as a promotion tool

One of the most popular Indian music forms is the Filmi music. Hindi film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, along with Indian regional film industries, produces thousands of films a year, most of which are musicals and feature elaborate song and dance numbers.

It is because of the huge popularity of the Indian film music that a large number of talented music directors, singers, composers and lyricists are attracted to the Indian Film industry. India is a land of great musical heritage. It is mainly because of the same reason that almost all our means of entertainment are inspired by music. The Indian film music has given a number of great music talents over the years. Some of the notable are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, K L Sehgal, Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, R D Burman, S D

Burman, A R Rehman, Khaiyyam and many others.

Indian Film Music is said to have begun with the release of Alam Ara in 1931. In the early years of Indian cinema, the music was mainly classical and folk in inspiration, with some Western elements. The most fascinating part of Indian film music is its evolution with time. The Indian film music experts have always experimented with new things to cater to the changing tastes of music lovers. Another trend in Indian film music is that of integration of some popular regional languages such as Punjabi, Oudhi etc. Though in the process of evolution, music experts have flirted with western influences too yet the Indian flavor has always remained there.

Earlier music was a part of the films and was mostly used only when the song gelled with the flow of the movies; but these days music is used as a vital tool for promotion of movies. Movie soundtracks are released as tapes and CDs much before the movie is released. Earlier, radio was the main media of Film music but with the coming of satellite TV and FM radio the scenario has completely changed. An elaborate music release function is held for even low budget movies as it is an important way of garnering attention. Any music release function is usually covered by the press and a few television channels (specially dedicated to covering news about the film industry).There are a lot of movies which have been box office successes despite a bad story line; music being their saviour. Movies like Aashiq Banaya Aapne,Gangster,Woh Lamhe, Jhoom barabar Jhoom, China gate, Bas Ek Pal Anwar,Dum,Aks are classic examples of such movies. Variations in this include multi star caste songs , item numbers etc. with a peppy or racy beats which also attract viewers. There is also a new trend where old hit songs are being re-mixed and used in movies to attract audience.Thus, music is used as an important promotional strategy for films these days.

10. Hollywood marketing strategies in India

With increasing literacy levels, the demand for international fare among the English-educated Indians is growing. Post-globalization, the well-heeled urban Indians, especially growing mid- and high-income segments, is rediscovering the magic of cinema in the plush multiplexes. And for them, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts are as good as Shahrukh Khan, Karan Johar, and Rani Mukherjee. Indian audiences watch Hollywood films for what they cannot get in Bollywood films. Indian films center on family and romantic themes and seldom do they offer big-ticket action or jaw-dropping visuals. Hollywood offers the latter, which is why films offering that style of entertainment do well.

As recently as 2005, foreign films accounted for only about 5 percent of about $1 billion in theatre tickets sold annually here. But Hollywood profits in India are growing at 35 percent a year, and the US film industry is becoming more aggressive.

Hollywood's Major Initiatives in India:? Simultaneous release of blockbuster films and India release within 3-4 weeks for other major films, vis a vis the time difference between US and India release, which was as long as 6 months to a year, about 4 years back.? Dubbed versions supported by localised consumer-centric campaigns take playability of Hollywood films beyond metros, thereby adding to ticket sales. These dubbed versions contribute almost 50 per cent of the company's revenue. Spider-Man 3 was dubbed into Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bhojpuri. The massive global release meant that poor villagers in central India were able to queue up the same day as audiences in Los Angeles to see the film, dubbed into a local dialect.

? Increase of almost 100 percent in the marketing and publicity budgets for all Hollywood films by the major studios. Hollywood is promoting its big-ticket films like any other big Bollywood release. Premieres are being held here. There are tie-ups with corporates and there is even merchandising at a small level. Promotions of Hollywood films are being adapted to suit the local taste and flavor. There were paintings of the action figure on Mumbai trains to promote Spiderman 2. Media penetration and internet usage has created greater awareness for Hollywood films in India, right from the time they are promoted in the U.S., which increases once the film opens there. U.S. Reviews and Box office figures are flashed across Indian media and the buzz continues with the Indian media giving space to these films till their release in India. Because of the multiplexes, Hollywood studios could release a good number of their films in the country.

Here we take the example of promotion of Spiderman2 which created a benchmark for Hollywood movies’ success in India.To promote Spiderman 2, Sony Pictures went all out. Sony BMG especially created a single for the movie sung by the famous Pakistani band "Strings". Sony's Indian television arm, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), was tied in to promote the film through their high visibility programs such as Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi /Yeh Meri Life Hai. Another Sony TV outfit, SET MAX, specially created a program called "Spotlight," hosted by Mandira Bedi, their brand ambassador and a celebrity in India. On both SET and SET MAX, the Spiderman was shown swinging in and out as and when the channels IDs appeared. AXN also had a Spiderman bug (the image of Spiderman) on their logo on a 24x7 basis. Sony Ericsson launched their first branded phones in India (Spiderman 2 mobile phones). These phones were promoted through a tie-in with the film. Sony Electronics also played a part. Their first major film promotion in India was through their hi-end retail stores "Sony World". Sony Pictures Home Entertainment promoted the film through their DVD and VCD sales for Spiderman (the first part). The era of Bollywood v/s Hollywood has ended. It's now an era of coexistence, courtesy multiplexes which have added capacities.

11. Messages and styles used for promotion of films

The publicity of the movie is about highlighting appealing aspects of the movie to the audience. The messages a publicity campaign try to convey to the audience vary based on the type of film and the target audience. The style in which these messages are delivered also varies. However the style has to be attention grabbing and interesting enough for the target audience to think about the message or remember the message. Generally the messages are about the strengths of the movie. For example the lead actors, director, banner or the subject of the movie, music can be considered as strengths of a movie.

However, sometimes messages that arouse sentiments in the audience are also used. Lagaan and Gadar are good examples of successfully using the audience sentiments to their advantage.

Lagaan

The theme of the movie was a tightly guarded secret. Posters and teasers gave no hint of what the movie was about. The movie music was promoted. The music was very successful. This generated an enormous amount of curiosity for the movie among the audience. The movie was released all over the country at the same time. This generated a big initial week collection. However since the length of the movie was 4hrs, only 3 shows per day could be screened. This resulted in some losses. After the first weekend the marketing strategy was changed and the cricket match in the film came into focus. India is a cricket crazy country. How can Indians ignore an India vs. England match set in the British raj era?

Gadar

This is a good example of how the public sentiment can affect the fortunes of a movie. The advertisements aroused public sentiments by highlighting Sunny Deol’s rhetoric on Pakistan and showcasing partition riots in graphic detail. This movie of the masses used the lay man’s sentiments of patriotism to its advantage. The Music of the movie was an added advantage. Both Lagaan and Gadar enjoyed great success after the first week because of the good quality of the movies. Mouth to mouth publicity played a major part in the success of these movies. It is said that people in villages travelled in trucks and tractors to the cities to watch Lagaan and especially Gadar. We can safely conclude from these examples that if a movie successfully appeals to public emotion, then it is sure to generate a good mouth to mouth publicity.

To analyze various messages and styles used by film promoters, attributes and factors relevant for promotion of 3 different films of different genres were analysed from promotion and publicity point of view.

Film 1 - JODHA AKBAR

? Period film and a love story ? Sole release of that week.? Star cast of Hritik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.? Hrithik - aishwarya chemistry after success of Dhoom 2 ? Ashutosh Gowarikar is the director with a great track record.

? Good music and meaningful lyrics.? Larger than life portrayal with grand jewellery and costumes.? Tie up with Tanishq for Jewellery.? Extremely lengthy narration of the story. (4hrs)? Controversy surrounding historical facts created buzz

Film 2: HANUMAN

? Animated movie with an Indian mythological character as the lead.? Kids movie. The cute face Bal Hanuman and his pranks appeal to child audience.? Brand Hanuman used for merchandising.? Hanuman fighting with devils in new Hollywood styles (Matrix)? Movie making a statement on current state of affairs.? Hanuman is already known to the Indian audience. (No need to make people aware about hanuman and his super powers.)

Film 3: OM SHANTI OM

? Shahrukh Khan? Catchy music.? Recreation of the 70s setting.? Expectation and curiosity generated for the debutante Deepika Padukone? Promotion on TV shows – all music reality shows like Koffee with Karan? Promotion in cricket matches coinciding with the release.? Director Farah Khan - Reputed for good Choreography ? Sharukh’s Six pack Abs hype? Multi star song sequence - “all hot girls” created a hype? Released during Diwali – audience looking to kill some free time? Controversy related to Manoj Kumar created hype.

12. Maslow pyramid and movies

When people are asked “Why do you watch a movie?” The most common answer is “For Fun.” Where does the need for having fun fit in the Maslow Pyramid? If the Maslow hierarchy is used in a rigid way, this question may not be answered. To understand this we need to find out what does having fun mean to different people when they say they are watching movies for fun. It could mean deriving pleasure, enjoyment, and entertainment. However these are end results of some need being satisfied.

In order to relate a particular 'doing it for fun' behaviour to the hierarchy of needs we need to consider what makes it 'fun' (i.e. rewarding) for the person. If a behaviour is 'for fun', then let’s consider what makes it 'fun' for the person - is the 'fun' rooted in 'belongingness', or is it from 'recognition', i.e., 'esteem'. Or is the fun at a deeper level, from the sense of self-fulfilment, i.e. 'self-actualization'.

Needs given by Maslow pyramid applied to needs exploited by movie promoters:

1. Biological and Physiological needs

Sex appeal of stars, item songs, sex scenes are targeted at exploiting the Biological and physiological need of sex. All these are used while promoting such type of films to attract audience.

2. Safety needs

A thriller, horror or an action movie gives a chance to virtually experience fear and thrill. Thus a person may experience fun by imagining danger. (Forgoing safety for experiencing thrill). The promoters highlight this thrill factor in there promotional campaign.

3. Belongingness and Love needs

Watching a movie with a group of friends or family satisfies the need of belongingness. Also a lot of movies are made with love as the central theme keeping young couples and there need to express love in mind. Watching cult movies like science fiction or watching movies as a fan of a particular actor or director give movie goers the feeling of belonging to the cult or fan club. Film promoters have used this need for promoting movies like Harry potter, star wars, Rajnikanth movies etc

4. Esteem needs

Movies influence people. The choices made by people for fashionable clothes seen in a particular movie or the jewellery design displayed in a movie leaves a mark in the minds of the audience. If these things catch on with the audience, the audience tries to own the same type of dresses or jewellery as shown in a movie. This gives people a chance to “show-off”. For example many women bought Tanishq Jewellery worn by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Jodhaa-Akbar. These women indirectly promoted the movie through the jewellery. Thus the promoters of Jodhaa-Akbar used the esteem needs of these women to publicize the movie.

5. Self-Actualization needs

Inspirational movies like Swades, niche class movies like Namesake, art movies, are movies with mature topics. These movies deal with conflicting human values and promotion of such movies is targeted towards a thinking mature audience.

13. Bibliography

Acknowledgements:Marketing Management : Kotler,Keller,Koshy,Jha.

Interview with Mr A K Pankaj: Film Distributor and owner of a weekly Film Newspaper.

Websites:http://in.kpmg.com/press/pdf/22 March 2005 - CII-KPMG Entt Report.pdf

http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/Blockbuster/MovieMarketing.html

http://www.movieindustrymarketing.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=18

http://www.imdb.com/

King Khan rules again... This time at the 4Ps BMA Power Awards 2009

The Best Marketed Movie of the Year was bagged by OM SHANTI OM, one of the most magnificent movies made and scripted. The award was collected by Ms. Farah Khan, one of the most adorable director of the bollywood fraternity and a choreographer who brings life into every dance step. The Best Marketing Strategy was bagged by KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS for their phenomenal marketing strategies in making Kolkata Knight Riders one of the most popular teams at the Indian Premier League.

Mumbai, Maharashtra, April 11, 2009 /India PRwire/ -- 4Ps Business, Marketing & Advertising Power Awards 2009, India’s most aspired business, marketing & advertising awards is a platform to acknowledge Corporate Magicians who have made a Product into a Brand. The awards ceremony was a night of achievement and celebration and was held on 8th April 2009 at J.W. Marriott, Mumbai

4Ps BMA Power Awards is juncture to decipher the appeal quotient of the Marketing & Advertising world. The spotlight of these awards rests on the magical genesis of the state –of –the - art creative and contemporary practices of the business, advertising and marketing fraternity.

These awards personify the creativity of the business, advertising and marketing camaraderie.

Apart from the various corporate and advertising categories, there were 2 Special Awards which were Best Marketed Movie of the Decade and Best Marketing Strategy.

Best Marketed Movie of the Year was bagged by OM SHANTI OM, one of the most magnificent movies made and scripted. The award was collected by Ms. Farah Khan, one of the most adorable director of the bollywood fraternity and a choreographer who brings life into every dance step. Om Shanti Om was indeed the most deserving winner of this award because the movie personified grandeur and the marketing of the movie was in complete sync with the

essence of the film. Farah and SRK seem to be ruling bollywood with their unique and outstanding endeavours.

Best Marketing Strategy was bagged by KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS for their phenomenal marketing strategies in making Kolkata Knight Riders one of the most popular teams at the Indian Premier League. KING KHAN once again ruled and personified what a GEM he is, but this time not for any movie or a bollywood venture, but for his exemplary business aesthetics and his par excellence foresight with respect to business strategies. King Khan is a magnificent and unique blend of infinite bollywood appeal and superlative business persona. His strategies and foresight have worked superbly well in making Kolkata Knight Riders reach an unmatched position in the hearts and mind of Indians

Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Planman Media elatedly shared, " It was indeed a pleasure to have Farah Khan grace the 4Ps BMA Power Awards 2009. Om Shanti Om was an unrivalled choice for the Best Marketed Movie of the Decade. The opulence and magnificence with which the movie was directed and scripted made it indeed the best marketed movie of the decade. With respect to Kolkata Knight Riders, King Khan personifies the title ‘King’ as he indeed has made India extremely proud with his various bollywood ventures and now with Kolkata Knight Riders reigning the minds and hearts of Indians, King Khan has proved his par excellence business acumen”

Abhimanyu Ghosh, CEO, Planman Media says “These awards brought together various bollywood and corporate personalities on the same platform. It gives me immense elation at Om Shanti Om winning the Best Marketed Movie of the Decade Award and Kolkata Knight Riders winning the Best Marketing Strategy Award. Farah Khan, the face of Om Shanti Om and King Khan, the torch bearer of Kolkata Knight Riders have both very proudly justified their exemplary business brilliance”

Govt to give industry status to filmsMumbai, May 10

The Union Government has decided to grant industry status to film industry, Information Broadcasting and Communications Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday announced.

Addressing a huge gathering of film makers and media personalities at a National Conference on challenges before Indian cinema, she informed that a Government Order in this regard will be passed soon after working out modalities. Swaraj stated that the Information and Broadcasting Secretary Piyush K Mankad, will have discussions with Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahaluwalia and after consultations with the film industry, the modalities will be worked out.

“I have already discussed the long pending issue of granting industry status to film industry with Finance Minister Yeshwant Sinha and the process to give status is on, she said adding that it is a priority area in the National agenda of the BJP-led Government and

a formal order will be passed very soon.

Earlier eminent film personalities on Sunday urged the Government to grant the film industry the status of an industry and sanction certain tax concessions and facilities to boost the film business that was currently going through a period of crisis.

[...]Acclaimed film maker Shyam Benegal said the production of films had dropped by 30 per cent owing to the heavy entertainment tax and lack of organised financial institutions to back production of films.

Flaying the Government for its ‘double standard policy’, Benegal said while the film industry had been subject to various taxes, it was deprived of benefits that were granted to other industries PTI.

Bollywood & the Indian Film Industry

Katharine Woodman-Maynard

Excerpt: India is one of the largest producers and markets for movies in the world. Bollywood films and music dominate the movie industry in India. New laws are allowing an increase in foreign direct investment in the media.

The name Bollywood is an amalgamation of Bombay (now Mumbai) and Hollywood. Mumbai is where the majority of Indian films are produced. In 2006, it was a $1.6 billion industry and growing faster than the Indian economy. Indian cinema goers expect to get their “money’s worth” so Bollywood films are characterized by long running times (around 3 hours), dance and song numbers, melodramas, and mixing of genres. The combination of comedy, drama, action, and romances makes the films appeal to a wide audience; there are very few niche films produced.

Most films are in Hindi, as the most widely spoken language in India, although sections or songs in English are becoming increasingly popular. The stars are almost entirely Indian, although frequently the story line takes place abroad. Most other languages spoken in India have their own film industries as well. For example the Malayalam film industry, based in Kerala, is known for more artistic and conservative films.

Music is an important element in Bollywood films with the soundtrack often being more popular than the movie. Very few actors sing their own music but instead playback singers are responsible for the singing. The playback singers are major draws to the cinema and have their own extensive fan base separate from the actors who lip sync their music. As an advertising strategy, soundtracks are released before the film is in cinemas, so the audience is often familiar with all the music before ever seeing the movie, and it draws them into the theatre. Advertising in Bollywood is much less extensive than in Hollywood, with simple billboards, some Internet advertising, and stars making appearances promoting the film. In 2002, only an average of $500,000 was spent on marketing, compared to an average of $47.7 million per Hollywood film.

Competitive Landscape

In 2005, India produced 1,041 films, second in the world to China at 2,601, but ahead of the US at 611. However, in India there are only 9,000 screens in comparison with 38,500 in China, and 37,482 in the US. At 500 million ticket sales per year, India trails behind China (1,430 million) and the US (1,400 million).

The amount spent per film in India is significantly less than in the US, averaging $500,000 per film in comparison with $14 million. The funding of films is generally private or by large studios. The largest production houses in India are Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions. It was once illegal for financial institutions to fund films. However, in order to allow Bollywood to compete more globally, banks are now allowed to fund up to $1 million per film, or up to 40% of their production cost.

The export of Bollywood films is increasing. In 2005, Bollywood films in the US made $100 million, and in the UK a Bollywood film is often in the top 10 most popular movies. Bollywood is popular in South Asian countries, especially Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Piracy is the major problem facing Bollywood. It significantly cuts into the profits of soundtracks and movie distribution. Copyright enforcement by the government is lax, the legal and arbitration process lengthy, and the copyright laws are dated. Bootleg copies of films are available even before the film reaches the cinema and are sometimes broadcast illegally on small cable networks, or exported to other countries, especially Pakistan.

Before 1992, foreign investment was prohibited in media in India. Now the government has an inconsistent policy about the amount of foreign investment allowed in media. In 2005, the government began opening the market to foreign direct investment (FDI) however it still has restrictions as to the amount of FDI allowed. This can be circumvented by the ownership by the Indians.