Regional push: Zee, Sony, Dharma line up releases in multiple languages

Zee, Viacom 18, Dharma, Sony Pictures tread with caution as they line up releases in multiple languages

The year 2018 is being seen as the breakthrough year for regional cinema as the national studios have all expanded their teams for language movies and are putting their muscle behind 8-10 high profile releases through the year. Two years after the success of Marathi hit Sairat and a year since the blockbuster Baahubali 2, investments and expectations from regional cinema are riding a crest. However, instead of an all-out leap, the studios are pacing their steps. The studios are sticking to South Indian languages, Marathi and Bengali to start with and having learnt the lessons from past missteps, are running separate teams and adopting differentiated strategies for different languages while working more closely with local talent. 

Of the various language movie markets, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu have seen the most growth. And the studios see it as good strategy to focus on these markets. According to the FICCI-EY media and entertainment report 2018, the Telugu film market saw 47 per cent growth. Its net domestic collection in 2017 was Rs 15.33 billion, up from Rs 10.42 billion in 2016. However, a big chunk, Rs 2.85 billion, was contributed by one film, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Total footfalls for Telugu cinema grew 37 per cent, from 175 million in 2016 to 240 million in 2017.

In 2016, Sairat became the first Marathi language film to cross the Rs 1 billion mark and is now being remade in Hindi. And just the Hindi version of Baahubali 2 made Rs 5.11 billion. While the numbers are encouraging, the studios are playing it slow, learning they say from the mistakes in the past. The experiences of UTV (now Disney India) and Fox Star Studios that have both pulled out of regional markets are serving as cautionary tales.

Content, stars and local masala

Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Motion Pictures (VMP) says that studios need to use different lenses for the different language markets. Instead of looking at all language movies as the non-Hindi market, one needs to focus on what works for the different language markets.  “Regional is a broad term for this (kind of cinema). It is actually a lot of distinct marketing with (each market having) their own contours and personality. For example, some markets are content-led while others are star-led. Only if you understand these nuances you can strategise,” he says.

Traditionally, Marathi and Bengali cinema and in the South, Malayalam cinema are content driven. Telugu movies tend to be star-focused. There are other language markets where it’s a mix of star and content that works, in Punjabi and Tamil cinema, say many. 

VMP has found success with Marathi movies such as Aapla Manus with Nana Patekar in the lead. “Once you’ve understood the needs of a market, you can put a team in place and give it power to operate as per the demands of the market. We have a separate team for Marathi for now and will expand to other markets like Telugu soon,” Andhare says.

Zee Studios, the film production arm under Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited is also betting big on Marathi cinema. Mangesh Kulkarni, business head– Marathi Film Division, Zee Studios says, “Marathi cinema has flourished on the back of its content and is rooted in local culture. We draw strength from our understanding of these insights, not only in concept selection but also in marketing.” 

Kulkarni says that even non-Marathi viewers are attracted to Marathi films. “New stories, a new style of storytelling is welcomed by the audience which is why Zee Studios is keen on identifying and nurturing new talent, as writers, directors, actors, music composers etc,” he says. 

This is an understanding many studios lacked in the past, say experts. It was considered the norm to market a Bengali film, for instance, to the audience in its home state and to Bengali speaking people in other states. However, research shows that if these movies follow a standard quality of production and are dubbed well, the market could be much bigger. And for movies such as Baahubali 2, even bigger than Bollywood.

Tapping into local talent is another insight that studios have found useful while operating in regional markets. As Andhare explains, since each market has its own sensibilities and tastes, it becomes important to identify and hone talent native to the market/language. It works well specially for Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali which have a strong theatre community. This also means in most cases, the costs are better controlled, unlike Bollywood.

Stepping around the hurdles 

While there have been some big hits from the regional slate, the language market is still riddled with some big challenges. For one, monetisation on digital is yet to take off. In some markets, even theatrical distribution remains a challenge because of the lack of multiplexes and archaic distribution models. Even the quality of production and infrastructure could be a challenge at times for some languages. Kulkarni says, “For Marathi movies, the challenge is to raise the bar of technical finesse up to Hollywood and Bollywood or even the Southern regional films. Slowly, industry is moving towards it.”

Another big challenge is international distribution of language films. Despite the large Indian diaspora in the US, UK and other markets, language films have limited appeal. It has only been Hindi films, and that too in the past 5-7 years more significantly, that have found real success in the international markets. 

However Andhare makes a distinction here. “Films in languages like Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi do well abroad since there is a huge expat population with an intrinsic movie going culture across key markets. But when it comes to Marathi and Bengali movies, there is an issue of both visibility and appetite. Movies need to be marketed better in that sense. The audience is there. It just needs to be brought to the movie halls,” he says. And studios are going all out to make that happen.