Corporatization has clearly grown the market, changing the structure of Bollywood production houses. The rise in the number of studios has altered the business model of family run companies with no production contracts, schedules, or bound scripts. The burgeoning number of key players in the industry, extravagant marketing campaigns and unconventional narratives that go beyond song and dance ridden family dramas have contributed to the qualitative transitions of t
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The proliferation of multiplexes is another effect of corporatization which is largely underplayed as a factor influencing the content of Bollywood films. "Before multiplexes came into existence, the film industry was producing just three hundred films a year while now it is churning out over a thousand films", asserts Deepak Tanuja, Vice-President of Fun Cinemas. With the new five year entertainment tax waiver for upcoming multiplexes, the explosion of multi- screen cinemas has altered the face of exhibition and over the years has influenced the content of Indian motion pictures. "The multiplex concept has made it easier for small budgeted movies to make their presence felt among the audience" say critics. Without the pressure of breaking even in a 1,500 person theater, cinema halls with smaller capacities have enabled the exhibition and sustenance of independent films, as well as the growth of genres in an industry that has relied on three hour "masala" films, a concoction of many genres packaged as a predominantly melodramatic musical to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This is seen in the recent surge of horror, thriller, sci- fi and fantasy films such as Bhoot (2003), Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and Krrish (2006) as illustrated in the image above.
With the growth of digital cinema over the last two years, distributors are able to drastically cut down on the hugely expensive cost of print. This enables viewership among audiences in B and C class towns that would otherwise be unable to access these films due to difficulty in transportation to remote areas or a high cost of print that would not be easily recovered in these regions. With a sudden surge of approximately two thousand digital theaters across the nation, cheap exhibition of small budget, experimental films that depart from the norms of mainstream Bollywood cinema, while targeting a larger audience and easily recovering costs, has been made possible. Given the lower costs, higher shelf life and broader audience base with the rise in digital cinema, Kanwaar of Apollo Group sums up its main advantages as generating "a lower break-even point", thereby increasing revenue and encouraging experimentation and narrow casting.
New avenues of audience consumption such as the growth of in- home consumption of films has also been integral in paving a path for a new wave of Bollywood films. With a huge drop in DVD costs to $3 per DVD, as well the recent practice of releasing DVDs forty five days rather than six months after theatrical release, a huge increase in DVD sales has swept the market, ai
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With this burgeoning multiple revenue system, the growing methods of audience consumption as well as the infrastructure to tap into these varying streams is rapidly changing the business model of the insular Indian film industry. This, in turn, is allowing for a newfound opportunity to cater to niche audiences, which is consequently impacting cinematic content. More people are able to watch movies today than ever before due to various technological advances and audience tastes are being shaped by these changes. Not only do these various methods of consumption promote the production of independent and experimental cinema, but the accessibility with which audiences are able to consume movies is also changing their preferences in terms of the lengthy durations of Bollywood films, as more and more films are watched at home rather than viewed as theatrical experiences. The easy availability of films is also causing a demand in a greater variety of genres and narratives. The only issue that needs to be seriously considered in this rapidly growing and evolving market is that these multiple streams of viewing encourage piracy, a grave problem that must be combated against in an industry where piracy already causes a $400 million loss in revenue.
1 comment:
Being a big Bollywood fan myself, first off, I would like to congratulate on you on tackling such an interesting and comprehensive topic in your blog, entitled, “Bollywood Bulletin.” The topic of this particular discussion regarding the “25% growth in revenue of the Indian film industry” to which you attribute to the “increased capital and competition due to the massive growth of local and foreign players in the industry” is especially enlightening because you also discuss that the ways in which Indian audiences consume films have, for the most part, been ignored.
To begin, the general esthetics of the bog is well thought out. The title and the subtitle ignite a sense of passion in readers, for the reason that the author’s sense of passion is inevitable to ignore. The details and the facts are a bit dry and extensive in length, but nevertheless extraordinarily informative. The organization of the paragraphs is relatively thoughtful in which they manage to sustain the reader’s attention and increase their sense of curiosity. For the purposes of simplifying one’s reading, you may want to rearrange some of the paragraphs.
Even though there are quite a number of links to explore, it would have been better to have attached even more links. Upon exploring these links, it is evident that you conducted a thorough research of different sites, all of which were accredited and varied from a range of sources. In addition, it might have been more productive if you had explored one movie in more detail to further elucidate all of your points. Researching this particular topic regarding the increase in sales and revenue in Bollywood films is especially fruitful because the Indian film industry uniquely blends business and economics, history, culture, tradition, language, heritage, psychology, consumer behaviors and more.
In many ways, Bollywood will surpass or has already surpassed Hollywood in various business aspects. In a declining economy, it would be wise for Americans to analyze the reasons for their “25% increase in revenue” so that Hollywood will be able to carry on their legacy for many more years. One question that would be relevant to explore is to compare and contrast the pros and cons of releasing new movies on to DVD distribution within such a short period of time (forty-five days). Is this the best solution? Initially, it seems that this method would rather hurt than benefit the market given that on average, they charge approximately three dollars per movie; therefore, wouldn’t it be smarter to prolong the release date?
I liked how you concluded with the wounding problem of piracy, by stating that this illegal act has caused $400 million loss in revenue. This ubiquitous problem has penetrated the market, South East Asia as the main production site for creating pirated works. It is optimistic to see that Bollywood has found a way to surpass this problem and has even grown and transformed from it. Keep up the good work!
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