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Hollywood says hello in Hindi
With focused marketing, Hollywood films have finally found their place in India, writes Vajir Singh.
"For Hollywood films in India, 2006 has been a spectacular year. In 2001, English films in India collected around Rs 130 crore; we expect 2006 to touch Rs 200 crore,” said an ecstatic Uday Singh, MD, Sony Pictures Releasing of India Limited (SPRIL).
Singh is cheery because when Hollywood does good, SPE does good – on its way to breaking sundry records, its Casino Royale took in the second largest collection in India after Titanic.
While SPE collected Rs 100 crore in 2004, it expects to close 2006 with Rs 116 crore.
“With more focused marketing aimed at specific audiences, instead of trying to please everyone, Hollywood films have finally found their place in India, in both urban and rural markets,” said Singh, adding, “We collected 50 per cent of our revenue on this film from the dubbed version. Casino Royale has already crossed Rs 35 crore (gross) in India, which is second after Titanic, whose gross of Rs 55 crore has been the biggest ever in India.”
Apart from its English films doing well, 2006 also marks SPE’s foray into Hindi film production with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya, which marks the debut of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor.
“So far it’s just a one-film deal with Bhansali; we’re definitely looking forward to working with him and other talented Indian names.” It’s been over a year since SPE announced Saawariya but it hasn’t made any announcement after that.
“It’s a long process. Our LA office has to clear everything, plus we’re not in a big hurry. Ours is a distribution company, so to begin with we decided to learn the ropes of distribution,” Singh said.
It is now fashionable for Indian production houses to sign multi-film deals with actors, but SPE is not going down that road. “At the end of the day, it’s a director’s medium. Even if we did zero in on an actor, ultimately they want to work with their own favourite directors,” he said.
