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INDIA

EPIC FILMS

ON THE RISE

THE RECENT BO SUCCESS OF BAAHUBALI: THE CONCLUSION iceberg and is set to increase in the coming years. After
(DIRECTED BY S.S. RAJAMOULI, ARKA MEDIA WORKS) IN CHINA AFTER Hollywood, Indian cinema has the highest reach (in terms
ONE YEAR OF ITS DOMESTIC RELEASE (APRIL 2017) SHOWS A CLEAR of distribution for films) and reaches over 80 countries
TREND OF LARGE INDIAN EPIC FILMS MAKING A NEW WAVE IN globally. India’s strength is emotional content — telling
THE GLOBAL MARKETS. human stories that resonate the world over, irrespective of
the language barrier.
By Natarajan Vidyasagar DOMESTIC BLISS
The Indian film industry is fairly unique in the world. The
country, along with the US and China, is among the few
that can sustain their industry domestically. You can make
a film just for India, or even one region within India and
still make a profit. In Britain or in many other European
countries, one cannot.
Many Indian companies have created top-end studio
facilities in India that serve as single windows to fulfill the
needs of the M&E industry. Their international business
model offers local and remote clients the opportunity to
produce and co-produce and distribute content anywhere
around the world. These are exciting times indeed for epic-
scale films in India. Ambitions are on the upswing and the
means are available to filmmakers in the country to mount
projects that would have seemed beyond the realms of
possibility only a couple of years ago.
Among the recent blockbusters are Dangal, Sachin, M.S.
Dhoni: The Untold Story, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom,
Paan Singh Tomar, Neerja, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Hindi
Medium, PK, Secret Superstar, Padmaavat, Bajirao Mastani
and the first and second Baahubali. These movies are
about heroes and heroines, some based on mythology and
Baahubali: the saga continues © DR history, while others inspired by ordinary Indians
experiencing extraordinary feats. “The Indian audience is
instinctively looking for healthy character-strength
HE Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) a rise,” says Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, expressions. The mental and emotional state of the
industry has emerged as a globally recognised Confederation of Indian Industry. audience reaches a certain elevation when they observe an
market with $24bn annual revenue. The India is ranked third in the domestic box-office ticket sales act of moral goodness or courage,” says Dr Raghunath,
industry, which is already producing the world’s for films at $1.6bn (with Japan, UK and South Korea) in Professor of Corporate Strategy and Policy at Indian
T largest number of movies, is on the cusp of the international markets after China and the US. Institute of Management Bangalore. “Indian moviemakers
radical transformation and its steady rise in the global M&E All these factors point to the fact that the Indian M&E are beginning to deliver primarily observational and visual
space cannot be ignored for too long. The recent successes sector is a huge market. At the same time, there is huge impact and intense emotion or ‘elevation’ when the
of Indian movies across the continents underscore the opportunity and potential that need to be realised as the audience observes portrayal of goodness in extreme adverse
potential of the industry. Baahubali: The Conclusion India M&E segment is a little less than 2% of the $2.2 conditions, or a strong character in action.”
(Baahubali 2) had a blockbuster day-one opening at trillion global media and entertainment sector. Some of the factors that are driving this growth in India are
$2.85m from 18,000 screens in China from 51,494 shows Indian filmmakers have embraced new ways of telling favourable demographics, growing literacy, increasing
and a footfall of 484,276. Baahubali 2 is already India’s stories and this is increasingly visible in global platforms. affluence and evolution of technologies. New opportunities,
highest grossing movie at the domestic box office and is “Indian cinema is now expanding its viewer base content and platforms are becoming universal and India
the first Indian movie to gross more than Rs 1,000 crore internationally from Indian diaspora-based markets such — backed by a stable macroeconomic outlook and the
($150m) worldwide. Similarly, Yash Raj Films’ blockbuster as the US, UK and Gulf countries to non-traditional government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ blueprints
Tiger Zinda Hai earned over $80m in its runs at the box markets such as China,” says Sudhanshu Vats, Chairman, — strongly positioned to exploit such trends. India is truly
office in 2017. The Indian movie industry is a gargantuan CII National Committee of Media & Entertainment and emerging a one-stop destination for global filmmakers, for
entity. From its multiple production centres and in 20-odd Group CEO, Viacom18 Media. “Introducing local- the country, or sub-continent to put it succinctly, offers
languages, India produces nearly 2,000 films a year — language dubbing and exploring marketing deals with everything and anything needed for the M&E sector. From
more than the output of China and the US together. The local distributors has considerably helped expand the talents (both on- and off-screen), to locales and an industry-
country’s box office gross is projected to grow to $3.7bn market for Indian cinema. China is clearly a major growth friendly Ministry, headed by Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani,
by 2020. “The industry is going through a huge market and holds a lot of promise.” Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting,
transformation, high growth and an opportunity to expand The Indian content on screen reaches over 85 countries Government of India, India can only be a dream destination
its global footprint. India’s soft power through films is on on all major VOD platforms. This is just the tip of the for those with passion for cinema.

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