One year after the launch of two channels showcasing world cinema, the jury is still out on whether they have been an unqualified success.
In June last year, enthusiasts were beginning to cheer the arrival of world cinema in India. UTV World Movies was then a few months old, and NDTV Lumiere was preparing to launch in October. Theatrical releases at multiplexes and screenings by both these channels, which are also distributors for this genre of cinema, every other week, rang in a new season in movie-watching. Simultaneously, stores were flooded with DVDs of plush, alternate titles. A new beginning was made, but it was difficult to predict how soon this would bear fruit, if at all.
A year since, the report card isn’t bad at all, even though ratings indicate only a gradual growth, which is mainly due to uneven distribution. For instance, talks with DTH operators, say the channels, are still in progress. UTV World Movies’ business head Sameer Ganapathy feels that a world cinema channel “has always been a viable proposition”. For those who have had access to these channels through cable operators such as Hathway, it has been a productive alternative to family sagas that continue to hog primetime slots. A quick look would reassure viewers of quality programming, easy interface and a careful selection of films. While Lumiere has a praiseworthy collection of contemporary European and West Asian films, World Movies has a remarkable line up of classics — from François Truffaut and Akira Kurosawa to Alfred Hitchcock.
Surprisingly, the audience isn’t stereotypical. “We had assumed the audience for world cinema would primarily come from the media and advertising fraternity, but we found that a chunk of it is professionals from finance and IT sectors. Demographics indicate a younger audience, between 18 and 40 years of age,” informs Dhruvank Vaidya, NDTV Lumiere’s business head. Subtitles are no longer off-putting for viewers. “The language barrier has been broken. Subtitles in the past alienated the audience. But these days other Hollywood movie channels display subtitles sometimes, so the audience has become used to it,” he says.
Assessing their marketing strategies in the past year, Vaidya points out, “Word of mouth travels faster than any marketing strategy — so instead of releasing a particular film countrywide on the same day, we release a different film in every city. We began with theatrical releases only in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and have expanded to Hyderabad, Goa, Chandigarh, Chennai and Pune.” During the producer-multiplex strike, ticket sales were encouraging. “In a total of 17 theatrical releases, we sold 60,000 tickets in the last year across cities,” says Vaidya.
Joining the theatrical release platform this month, UTV World Movies (the company has been holding film screenings only at cultural centres) has 12 titles in hand for screening. “Acclaimed animated Israeli film Waltz with Bashir is scheduled tentatively for a July release across metros,” says Ganapathy. He is upbeat about the “success of the channel”.
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Television Audience Measurement (TAM) ratings carried out by TAM Media Research India through the Peoplemeter system across metros indicate that between January and June 2008, Star Movies took home the highest share, with HBO not far behind. World Movies was a new entrant in that time slot, its channel share rising to 5 per cent after the first few months in the business. Lumiere entered the picture late last year. This year’s TAM figures establish World Movies gaining 8 to 9 per cent channel share, while NDTV Lumiere ends with 1 per cent as of June 2009. It remains to be seen how figures change once these channels get their distribution sorted out.
Where channels haven’t yet been able to reach, public screenings have. Lumiere roped in Lodi Restaurant and the Tabula Rasa lounge and bar in New Delhi, Pebbles in Bangalore, Roxy in Kolkata, Soul in Pune, Loungefly in Goa and Zenzi in Mumbai to screen their selections. Recently, Lumiere’s film festival special, Cannes Experience, showcased a string of Cannes favourites.
Pondicherry is being considered as a venue for a possible film festival. But have advertisers warmed up to these channels? “It’s now a great proposition for advertisers because it isn’t just about an ad spot — it’s a 360-degree space. It’s a brand association that will benefit from cross-promotion across three platforms — television, theatre and DVD,” says Vaidya.
While the channels are yet to pick up, DVD sales in this genre are reassuring, with several players in the market. Two years ago, you may not have found a world cinema section in stores. But the market is now flooded with titles. UTV’s recent tie-up with Shemaroo will see 60 titles on DVD, of which five are already on sale. UTV also enjoys an association with Seventymm, an organised DVD rental service that has a collection of 100 titles in this genre.
Srikanth K N, CFO of Seventymm, says, “During the producer-multiplex strike, our audience — of which 65 percent rent primarily Hollywood films — chose to pick titles in our parallel cinema category. Additionally, once a member has rented a film in that genre, our internal recommendation-generation engine recommends similar titles the next time they log in.”
NDTV Lumiere, in association with Excel Home Videos, has launched 30 titles on DVD, priced at Rs 399 each. Meanwhile, Palador Pictures, which entered the home video segment in November 2008, has launched 80 world movies titles, co-released with Moser Baer. Palador, to date, has sold 7,500 DVDs, also priced at Rs 399 per piece. Managing director and founder Gautam Shiknis agrees that channels like Lumiere and World Cinema have boosted the growth of this genre in the country. “Under our One World Collection, we intend to release 40-50 titles every quarter and make world cinema accessible through DVDs, theatricals, alliances and Internet content delivery.”
What is the way forward in year two? Both World Movies and Lumiere are planning to be more interactive by hosting shows with well-known filmmakers who will share their expertise. Lumiere has already announced master classes with Shekar Kapur, Mira Nair, Danny Boyle and Sudhir Mishra to be aired through the year. One cannot contest the content on offer. With better availability, there will be more viewers.
