Is Bollywood in trouble? Will Hollywood and Regional take over? Is Indian Cinema in any kind of trouble?
Piracy, high pricing of tickets at multiplexes. lack of cinema screens and new movies being broadcasted on television three months after release have reduced the number of footfalls in the cinemas considerably and was making it difficult to raise the market share.4
However, there is good news yet ! The emergence of digital platforms has opened new vistas for monetization for movies.
Even though regional cinema is being aggressively promoted by state governments by way of various sops, Bollywood can benefit if we could raise the TV viewing window of new movies to six months instead of the current three months. Lack of screens in the country and high price of tickets coupled with the fact the audience for Hollywood movies was increasing and giving a tough competition to Hindi cinema. Models were being worked upon to maintain a balance.
The solution is simple, we need a strong trade bodies to combat piracy and with the help of committed and passionate producers and stakeholders to push the agenda, Piracy can be reduced by the cause being championed by effective global leaders who could take the fight ahead.
Also if all types of cinemas are marketed and given due visibility as is the case with big budgeted films, the audience who are alienated by multiplies as they were removing a certain type of cinema for which there was an audience base, we will experience more footfalls in the theatre.
The session was moderated by Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios. Participating members were Samir Nair, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms, Venky Mysore, CEO, Red Chillies Entertainment, Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Suresh Babu, President, Telugu Film Chamber Of Commerce.
