HVK Archives: Hollywood hard hit in Bollywood land
Hollywood hard hit in Bollywood land - The Indian Express
Sandeep Unnithan
()
7 August 1997
Title: Hollywood hard hit in Bollywood land
Author: Sandeep Unnithan
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 7, 1997
Even as their country cousins rake in the moolah thanks to a string of
recent hits like Viraasat, Border and Yes Boss, English film theatres in
Mumbai are having to confront a problem of scarcity - an oversupply of
English films with just two screens to show.
Inevitable fallouts are delayed and rescheduled releases of English films
with Mumbai being among the last centres to receive Hollywood's offering.
In the melee to reach scarce screens, blockbusters of the calibre of Batman
and Jurassic Park end up trampling on small films appealing to select
audiences.
A delayed release kills a film's interest. "Cindy Crawford's debut vehicle
Fair Game was released all over the country in February 96 and did
excellent business, but by the time it reached Mumbai nearly a year later,
it had been saturated and did badly only here," said Warner Bros executive
George John. The 'situation looks even bleaker, with Warner Bros shelving
their ambitious plans for multi-plexes all over Maharashtra, including
Mumbai, last year. "As a rule, English film theatres have to be located in
South Mumbai to be successful, given the high real estate costs in Mumbai,"
a film executive said. While Mumbai's exhibitors are talking to foreign
film companies for multiplexes, the city is still years away from
multiplexes like the highly successful Priya Village Road Show opened in
Delhi recently.
"Nothing is certain unless you see the concrete on the ground," explained
Columbia-Tristar marketing manager N Muthuram. Parent company Sony had
unsuccessfully scoured the Indian market for big partners for 1000 screens
all over India. With no new theatres in the pipeline, the number of screens
in Mumbai is going to remain static, unless foreign film distributors can
convince theatre owners to begin screening English films - a
near-impossibility, considering the big business Hindi films do. Last
year, a refurbished Novelty cinema at Grant Road reverted to screening
Hindi potboilers after a brief flirtation with English cinema, including
screening the acclaimed Apollo 13. "We've scored silver jubilees on Hindi
films like Dil and Raja but had lukewarm response to English films like
Specks and Timecop," said Novelty's manager Jehangir Sorabjee.
"The situation isn't expected to change overnight," said Sarabjit Singh,
General Manager, Paramount pictures. He explained that while the earlier
quintet of New Excelsior, Eros, Regal and Sterling that earlier screened
English films was insufficient, the situation was under control. Over the
last two years, Excelsior and Eros quietly switched over to screening Hindi
films - an experiment that has paid rich dividends. Foreign film companies
are having to accord higher priority to bigger English films. "The
action-adventure English films are given priority over films like Primal
Fear that would appeal to select audiences," Singh admitted.
Theatres like Sterling coped up with the backlog by running three movies in
three slots - a matinee, three regular shows and a special late night show
to showcase select films like One Fine Day.
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