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| Hollywood studios' track record in India patchy |
| Swarup Chakraborty / Mumbai Jun 08, 2010, 00:50 IST |
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Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (JKSAH), which released in April this year, had its female protagonist from Venus but, sadly, the film could not manage to woo the audiences on Earth. With it, another attempt by a Hollywood studio at striking gold with Hindi movies crashed.
The track record of Hollywood studios’ foray into Hindi films makes one feel something is going very wrong with their India strategy. Despite having the moolah, the star power, coupled with all the hype and hoopla that surrounds the marketing and promotions, the number of flop Hindi films associated with Hollywood studios is much higher than hits.
Produced by Warner Bros and People Tree Films and directed by debutant Milap Zaveri, JKSAH has proved another dud. In the past three years, Columbia Tristar (Sony Pictures), Warner Brothers and Disney have produced or distributed a number of Hindi films in India. Saawariya (Columbia Tristar), Chandni Chowk To China (CC2C) (Warner Bros), Roadside Romeo (Walt Disney Pictures), Saas Bahu Aur Sensex (Warner Bros) have all been unsuccessful.
Film trade analyst Komal Nahata says, “Hollywood studios have money but not the wherewithal to judge a script. In the film industry, the beginner’s losses are termed as ‘entry fee’, implying every entrant has to lose money to get a place in the industry. But, the entry fees paid by some international studios has been rather steep.”
Ramesh Sippy, the director of cult Hindi film Sholay, says his film CC2C was a big-budget one but “somewhere we were wrong” and it didn’t work. “The movies were not accepted by the audiences as the content was not good,” said trade analyst Taran Adarsh. “The creative control rests with the producer and he should check the content before investing his money in a film.”
The only exception in the recent past has been Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan (MNIK), produced by Dharma Productions and distributed by Fox Star Studio, which made its Bollywood debut with the film. Fox Star says India is a huge market for them and they would want to explore it. “The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world, making over 1,000 films a year, and is a growing market. Our experience so far has been very good — a collaborative relationship in which both parties have brought value to the table,” said Fox Star India’s CEO, Vijay Singh.
Fox is now looking at co-productions in India: “We are extremely buoyant after the success of MNIK. We have successfully managed to develop a strong distribution and marketing network in India and also effectively leverage the international network of Fox to take the film into newer markets and promote it. Our focus is to do co-productions and work closely with our partners in the production and marketing of our films. Importantly, structure deals which enable filmmakers to capture the full upside of their film and thereby participate in the upside,” said Singh.
Adding: “Currently, our first co-production is Ramesh Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum, directed by Rohan Sippy. We also have a two film co-production deals with Vipul Shah and another two Tamil films with Murgadoss.”
| COLLECTIONS AND VERDICTS |
| Saawariya |
Rs 23 cr, |
flop |
| CC2C |
Rs 30 cr, |
flop |
| Roadside Romeo |
Rs 5.25 cr, |
flop |
| Saas Bahu Aur Sensex |
Rs 1 cr, |
flop |
| My Name Is Khan |
Rs 73.50 cr, |
hit |
| Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? |
Rs 29 cr, |
above average |
| Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai |
Rs 4.50 cr, |
flop |
| Source: BoxofficeIndia.com |
Nahata said big names, a renowned director or superstars, and big budgets do not necessarily guarantee success for a film. It is the script that works and why studios have started looking at medium and small-budget films. “It is probably because of its unexciting experience in its first outing — Saawariya — that Columbia Tristar had in its second production venture opted for a smaller-budget film, Raaz – The Mystery Continues. That was the most intelligent thing it could’ve done under the circumstances, given that it didn’t want to call it quits after its first bad experience,” Nahata said.
However, all is not lost for the Hollywood studios, as Warner Bros’ latest release, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge, was a hit and Thanks Maa, a film highlighting child abandonment, distributed by Sony Pictures, was selected to be screened at the international film festivals at Edinburgh, Busan, Montreal, Cannes and Palm Springs. The debut child actor, Shams Patel, also won the Best Child Artist award for the film, at the 56th National Film Awards.
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