Kuch Kariye producers to sell their own music

The film makers came up with a novel idea to market the film. Producer Jagbir Dahiya along with N A Hashmi, who was with Venus and Sterling, started their own company called Surya Music.

Audio CD sale of Bollywood movies has been hit over the years due to music downloads. So much so that Sukhwinder Singh’s first film as an actor, Kuch Kariye, hasn’t found any buyers. The film makers came up with a novel idea to market the film. Producer Jagbir Dahiya along with N A Hashmi, who was with Venus and Sterling, started their own company called Surya Music.

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Says Hashmi, “There were days when the music industry would sell about 40 lakh cassettes per film. Nowadays the sale has come down to one lakh units.”Another reason that forced the producers to go solo was the huge promotional costs. Adds Hashmi, “T-Series charge Rs 1 crore, to promote a film. We wouldn’t earn if we paid so much money.”

Hashmi also blames distributors for this downfall. “A lot of music distributors are involved in piracy. Once you sign a deal with them, they will sell only half your genuine product to the general public. They return the remaining goods to the producers and thereafter what they sell are counterfeit copies,” reveals Hashmi.