Bollywood’s clout is spreading beyond Indians in the US, the UK the UAE and Australia. For, movies such as My Name is Khan (MNIK), Rajneeti, No One Killed Jessica, among others, have managed to attract local audiences in markets as diverse as South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, China and Belgium.
Just four weeks after its launch in March-end, Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name is Khan is among the top ten in weekend box office collections in — believe it or not — South Korea. It was number three in the weekend on April 8-10.
Industry experts say the movie, which has grossed $2.17 million, is expected to make around $3 million in South Korea. Only four other Bollywood films in the UK and six in the US have made more than $3 million in an overseas market. South Korea turned out to be the fourth-largest overseas market for My Name is Khan after the UK, the US and the UAE. The collections are about half that of the Oscar winner, King’s Speech, which was released on the weekend and has a more global appeal. In the fourth week, it was number three among non-Korean films.
My Name is Khan was released with Korean sub-titles in two phases. First, it was with 12 prints, in eight major cities. Later, it was expanded to 281 prints. The film was actively promoted in the country at a cost of $1 million.
| HOW MNIK IS FARING IN S KOREA Ranking on the basis of weekend box office collections | |
| Date | Ranking |
| March 25-27 | 10 |
| April 1-3 | 7 |
| April 8-10 | 3 |
| April 15-17 | 6 |
| *Korean film industry figures | |
The success is associated with an aggressive strategy put in place by Fox Searchlight, which has the film’s global distribution rights. It released the movie in a record 64 countries over a period of time and dubbed it in Italian, Russian, German, Spanish and Chinese, among others.
It was following a strategy known as the ‘platform release’ that is generally adopted by major Hollywood studios. In this, the distributor keeps increasing prints depending on the audience’s response. My Name is Khan was the first Bollywood movie on which this was tried.
The movie was released in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Norway, Iceland and Portugal. It became the first Indian film to be released in China after decades.
The success of the strategy is reflected in the fact that it has rustled up a staggering $21.73 million in these new markets, including $1.8 million in Indonesia and half-a-million dollars in Egypt. Around 62 per cent overseas box office collections were from non-traditional markets (excluding the UK, the US, the UAE and Australia).
“Most of these countries had never seen a Bollywood product. Therefore, we could not have a single market plan. We had a shorter edit for the international release in markets not exposed to Hindi films. The idea was to expand the market and position the film for the world audience,” said Vivek Krishnani, head, distribution, marketing and syndication, Fox.
This is already creating waves in Bollywood. “There is a sudden interest in tapping non-traditional markets among corporate houses making films. The shift is recent, with corporatised Indian film companies flush with funds planning to test newer territories to expand,” said film trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
Film production houses like UTV and Reliance Big Pictures are looking at Italy, Spain, Taiwan, China, South Korea and France for forthcoming releases. Last year, UTV released Rajneeti in Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. “The US and the UK (markets) continue to exist. It is the expansion of business opportunities and audience interest that’s fuelling the opening of new markets. Every market has its own genre. As European countries prefer romance, Jodha Akbar did exceedingly well there on television, while the Korean market loves drama,” said Amrita Pandey, senior vice-president for international distribution and syndication, UTV.
But it’s not only 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 Radiotelevisione Italiana (Rai) for showcasing its movies and is planning to take No One Killed Jessica, Saat Khoon Maaf and Dhobi Ghat to Cannes.
The diversification is reflected in the number of buyers from new markets coming to India. The number may not be huge but first tentative steps have been taken. For instance, for the first time, in October last year, the organisers of the Mumbai film festival played host to over 25 international movie buyers interested in developing the overseas market for Indian cinema. The popular buyers which attended were Metro Films (South Africa), Fortissimo (the Netherlands) Pioniwa (Japan), MK2 (France), The Match Factory (Germany), Bavaria Films International (Germany), Beta Films (Germany), Wide Management (France) and YTV (Japan). They were looking at offering Bollywood films to local audiences. The TV rights for Indian films in non-traditional markets can be sold for between $5,000 and 30,000 per movie.
Surely, Bollywood is taking the global centre stage.
