"There is an increase in small budget films being made at budgets less than Rs 60 lakh. This stands as a testimony to the creative talent available in the Bengali film industry," a FICCI-Deloitte report on media and entertainment scene in east India, says.
The report noted that the Bengali film industry had of late received a healthy flow of investment in films released in the current year.
"On the higher side, the production budgets of a few big budget Bengali films have now crossed Rs six crore. Greater production budgets in large films have led to more sequences in the films and not just songs, now being shot overseas," says the report.
Out of about 122 films certified in 2011, the report says quoting industry sources, that only around 100 of them actually saw commercial release.
Growing approximately by 20 per cent from last year, the annual investment in Bengali film industry is believed to be around Rs 150 crore when viewed in terms of overall costs of production and marketing.
On the box office side, the report says, quite a few mass commercial films continue to find success through content adapted from other popular vernacular languages, primarily from the south, to cater to the rural and semi-urban audience. (MORE)