Category Archives: ET

Directing Business, ET, Marketing, Movies

The myth of the overseas market

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Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, which releases this week, is a significant film. Not because it got rave reviews at every major festival from Cannes to Toronto or because it could end up being India’s entry to the Oscars-it is a critical film because it tests how hard Indian studios can push in their bid to revive the sagging overseas market for Indian films.

The Lunchbox is a gentle, realistically-told love story of a widower and a neglected housewife. The overseas market, however, is “very star-driven, extravaganza-driven,” says Avtar Panesar, vice- president (international operations), Yashraj Films, one of the oldest players in the NRI markets. “They (the NRI audience) don’t want to see Life in a Metro (2007) because that is too Western. They want to see the glamourous side of India. There was some traction with Vicky Donor (2012) etc, but it is slow,” thinks Pranab Kapadia, president (distribution), Eros International.

As the Indian market matures, this creative disconnect has meant that growth in the overseas market has, “slowed down,” says Gautam Jain, head of research, Ormax Media, a TV and film research outfit. From 30-40 per cent for large films, the proportion of box-office revenue coming from overseas has gone down to 20-25 per cent over the last decade. For smaller or medium-budget films, it is down to 10-15 per cent. At an overall level, the global market now brings in only 6.7 per cent of the total revenues for Indian films, down from 20 per cent or so in 2000. (See table)

Some of the biggest overseas markets have stopped growing, while others are hiccuping. The US, UK and West Asia bring in 75 per cent or more of all overseas revenues for an Indian film. “The UK market has been flat over the last two years,” says Rohit Sharma, head of international sales and distribution, Fox Star Studios. “Business plans are not drawn on the basis of the overseas market,” adds Smita Jha, leader (entertainment and media practice), PricewaterhouseCoopers. At over Rs 10,400 crore, the domestic market is much larger and faster-growing compared to the Rs 760 crore overseas one

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1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘Rush’ : Ron Howard at his best…

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Ron Howard over the years has made a reputation for himself as a master storyteller and he proves it yet again with his latest offering ”Rush”.

Rush is a biographical action film  about the 1976 Formula One season and the rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Both as different as chalk and cheese have one thing in common–their unflinching desire to win. While James Hunt sort of roughshods his way into glory by his flamboyance, Niki Lauda leaves his mark with his technical and meticulous nature. Ron Howard and his writer exploit these aspects at the start of the movie and build on it.  The result is a pacy movie that exploits racing backdrop to the extent that is required for story telling.

True to Ron Howard, his story telling craft never gets lost in the hustle bustle of the racing spectacles.

 

ET, Movies

The road to perdition: On M Night Shyamalan

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More than ten years ago, in 2002, Manoj Night Shyamalan appeared on the cover of Newsweek, his hands placed assertively on his hips, confidently staring into the distance, looking like more of a movie star than a director. ‘The Next Spielberg,’ proclaimed the cover (in large sized-text) along with ‘Hollywood’s Hottest New Story Teller.’

Today, those words come seem cruelly ironic. In a phantom twist, Newsweek doesn’t exist as a print magazine and neither does Shyamalan’s career, (at least according to Hollywood observers.) If it were at all possible that ex-wunderkind Shyamalan couldn’t hit a new low, he has somehow managed to helm, After Earth, which has been roundly panned.

The real ignominy for Shyamalan is that Columbia, the studio that produced the movie, was so petrified that moviegoers would be put off by Shyamalan’s association with the film that they tried to bury his name from any of the marketing and publicity paraphernalia. This was a director whose movies had famously announced themselves with “A film by M Night Shyamalan”. Evidently, a brand had become a liability.

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