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Barely three weeks into their release, movies are already available for home viewing.
Moser Baer Entertainment has released the DVD of Love, Sex Aur Dhokha within 10 days of the theatrical release. Rarely has it happened that a film has been released for home entertainment so quickly after its theatrical release.
Says Yogesh Saini of Moser Baer, “It pays to release the DVD of a movie so fast after a theatrical release. What we have done is for our advantage.” Earlier, films that fared badly were launched on DVD faster. Over the years, this trend had changed, considering the fact that Love, Sex Aur Dhokha is doing well at the box office.
The fastest film to be ever out on a DVD is Deewangee, which was released four days after the film’s release. Killing piracy Says Hiren Gada, of Shemaroo Entertainment, “The decision to launch it on DVD is taken according to the box office results of a movie. We had taken a calculated risk.” Adds Saini, “We have tried to kill piracy. This is the future of the DVD market. Nowadays, a film becomes perishable after a month. Word of mouth affects sale.”
During the video cassette era, a VHS tape used to be released on the same day. Adds Gada, “Films like Parinda, Hum and Tezaab were out on the same day. Sometimes, in the interiors of the country, if the first day, first show was at 3 pm, the VHS was already out at 11 am.”
This may be the trend for future DVD releases, but Amita Naidu of Eros, which is a major player in the DVD market has a different view. “We haven’t released any DVD 45 days before the theatrical release. Other manufacturers may be releasing it faster to keeps pirates at bay but it doesn’t always help,” says Naidu.
