If Rancho was passionate about latest machines, the blockbuster Hindi film featuring him among the famed trio is now travelling to a country known for its advances in modern technology. 3 Idiots is releasing in the Korean market this weekend.
That Bollywood is spreading its wings beyond the traditional US, UK, UAE and Australian markets was clear earlier this year in March when 2010 movie My Name is Khan (MNIK) was released in South Korea, where it is still doing roaring business. Now, the 2009 Aamir Khan-starrer, also featuring R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, will be thrown open for viewing in the same east Asian nation on Saturday — with over 230 screens. It comes close on the heels of the film’s successful release in Taiwan.
As for Karan Johar’s MNIK, also a box-office hit and distributed by Fox Star Studios, the hit movie was released in Korea in two stages — initially 12 screens and then expanded to 250 screens over three weeks.
Coming to 3 Idiots, which the film broke all opening box-office records in India after its release on the Christmas Day of 2009, the 164-minute flick loosely adapted from Chetan Bhagat’s best-seller novel Five Point Someone, has been sub-titled in South Korean language. The Rajkumar Hirani-directed movie is being aggressively promoted with a P&A spend of $1.5 million. This, according to Sameer Rao, CEO of Vinod Chopra Films (VCF), “is comparable to that for a major Hollywood release”.
The movie will be released by Apex Entertainment and CJ Entertainment, with CJE being the biggest domestic distributor in the Korean market. Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra with a budge of Rs 35 crore and distributed by Reliance Big Pictures, 3 Idiots grossed over Rs 400 crore.
Film trade analysts are upbeat with the recent ‘Go East’ phenomenon. “There is a sudden interest in tapping non-traditional markets, as most production houses and distributors are planning to test newer territories to expand,” notes Taran Adarsh, also an editor-critic and one-time producer-screenwriter.
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According to industry officials, 3 Idiots’ Korean release is inspired from a huge success the film received in Taiwan, where the movie completed a 29-week theatrical run starting last December, collecting over Rs 3 crore. Adds VCF’s Rao: “We have applied for its release in China. We are also looking to release the movie in Russia, Italy and a few other European countries.”
MNIK had set a benchmark, by being the first Hindi film to be released in 66 countries — through Fox Searchlight. It was for the first time Bollywood tried this strategy, known as a platform release and adopted by major Hollywood studios, for a regular movie. The 165-minute MNIK, likewise, kicked off with 2,200 prints and gradually grew by another 500 in six months in non-traditional markets such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan , Poland, Malaysia, Taiwan, China and Belgium.
Even film production houses like UTV, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Eros International and Reliance Big Pictures are now looking at Italy, Spain, Taiwan, China, South Korea and France for forthcoming releases. Last year, UTV released Rajneeti in Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands.
Apart from theatrical releases, production houses and studios are also looking to tap television to enter non-traditional markets. UTV recently signed a deal with leading Italian broadcaster Rai for showcasing its movies and Al Rai TV, the Kuwait-based television station. Eros also has deal with US — based Comcast network for broadcasting its movies.