Shemaroo Entertainment is set to release Super K, a 95-minute animation film, on Yahoo!'s online movie channel, Movieplex, on November 11. Viewers can log on and watch the movie for free.
According to a recent report, almost half a million of India's internet audience comprises pre-teens, of which 75 per cent access internet two-three times a week. Smita Maroo, head (animation division), Shemaroo Entertainment, says, "The film was not originally conceptualised to be released on the web. But our internal researches pointed to the fact that animation films don't do well in India because they don't get decent show timings in multiplexes.” Since multiplexes are interested only in films with big weekend collections, Maroo says a small-budget animation film is sure to be sidelined.
Last year, Striker, a small budget movie directed by Chandan Arora and starring Telugu superstar Siddharth, became the first-ever movie to be released on YouTube, on the day of its theatrical release date in international markets. The producers reportedly collected nearly Rs 5 crore through advertisements.
Shemaroo Entertainment, which has a content library of over 1,000 film titles, is also an official channel partner of Google’s YouTube and manages 32 online video channels. However, to premier its film Super K, Shemaroo chose to sign a revenue-sharing arrangement with Yahoo!. Viewers would see banner ads and adverts, and these would be Shemaroo's primary revenue mode. Yahoo!'s Movieplex, according to ComScore data in August, attracted 5.1 million users. This also helped convince Maroo to premier her animation film online. “When we met Yahoo!, it shared our conviction about releasing an animation film for kids online. YouTube was too busy with Ra.One,” she says.
Super K’s publicity has already begun on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Shemaroo, which has reportedly invested up to Rs 10 crore in the 3D CGI animation film, is hopeful of recording a profit once the film releases in international markets and is released on DVDs in the coming months. “We have sold theatrical rights of the movie in the US and Canada markets and will soon close distribution deals in West Asia, Europe and South Asia,” says Maroo. The film, adds Maroo, would also be showcased on the direct-to-home platform for pay-per-view.
