Research

Filming in London: Guidelines
London's respected film organisation, FILM LONDON, is in the forefront to help and guide the filmmakers who want to set-up their filming projects in and around London.

India-EU Film Initiative is pleased to reproduce a guide by Film London for Indian filmmakers who want to come to London for shooting their films. Also, look for locations in London.

UK Tax Relief
For films that cost up to £20 million, the Film Production Company (FPC) can claim an enhanced deduction of 100% with a payable cash element of 25% of UK qualifying film production expenditure. For films that cost over £20 million, the FPC can claim an enhanced deduction of 80% with a payable cash element of 20% of UK qualifying film production expenditure.

EXCLUSIVE MIRA >>>
"It defeats the whole idea that you need a white character to take you through to the dark continent". Read Mira Nair's in-depth interview on Crossover cinema >>>

India’s media and entertainment industry will be $22.5 billion by 2011
Filmmaking in India will multiply manifold in the coming months and years. India’s media and entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, according to a latest study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest accounting firm. Its revenues grew 20% in 2006, and they will double to $22.5 billion by 2011.

Product Placement in Bollywood 
Bollywood has finally discovered branding. In 2006, according to industry estimates, brand cameos earned around Rs 80 crore, and as a result, even small-and medium-budget movies as well as animated films are hoping to cash in on this new and lucrative revenue stream. Indeed, media analysts and industry watchers expect that figure to climb to Rs 200 crore this year, and reach Rs 800 crore in 2010.

World's Largest Filmmaking Complex in Hyderabad

London's BFI

National Film Theatre: The world-renowned National Film Theatre screens over 1,000 films a year, from rare silent comedies to cult movies and archive television screenings. The NFT hosts previews and gala screenings as well as events and on-stage interviews with film-makers, actors, producers, critics and writers.

Forbes, the most renowned name in business publishing, says Bollywood has taken over foreign cinema in the USA.

Forbes: Seven Hindi films passed the $2 million mark at the U.S. box office in 2006--a far cry from what Hollywood puts out, but certainly another sign that India's film industry is capturing broad, even global, appeal. To put it in perspective, Hindi films made up half of the 14 foreign language films that grossed more than $2 million in the U.S. this year--more than any other language. That is a record.

Look out, Hollywood – Bollywood has broken out of the cinematic ghetto and Mumbai-movie-mania is sweeping Europe. Yojana Sharma, an author of several well-documented papers on  Bollywood, reports on an all singing, all-dancing swing of the cultural pendulum.

The streets are lined with huge, handpainted posters in the style of Bollywood billboards – all red cheeks and intense, kohl-lined eyes. These same streets will soon be thronged with hundreds of hipshaking dancers in chiffon and sequins, and Indian DJs playing songs from Indian movies as pumping parties stretch late into the night.

Amitabh Bachchan is the world's most famous actor: The Sunday Times, London

SRK is the world's biggest film star: The Guardian, London

Manto: India's first film journalist

Manto was the first writer/journalist in India who wrote incredibly interesting yet documentary portraits of the film and theatre personalities of his time (1940s and early 50s). He called them sketches--khaakey in Urdu. Today, they are known as the first ever sketches of the Hindi film industry- popularly called 'Bollywood'. Penguin India has published a translation of those sketches under the title of Stars From Another Sky.

Bollywood: A History by Mihir Bose

My wife, who comes from an Indian family, is often amazed by the extent of Bollywood’s international popularity. In Havana, Moscow, Cairo and even Islamabad, fans have raved to her about their favourite flicks. Just recently, when we visited Fes, our guide broke into song in the middle of the souk with a rendition (in Moroccan-accented Hindi) of an old Raj Kapoor hit. He then spent the rest of the tour parroting classic Bollywood dialogue, in much the same way westerners recount lines from The Godfather or Casablanca.

The Immortal Dialogue of Mughal-e-Azam

The torch bearer of Bollywood in the UK, author, director and television producer, Nasreen Munni Kabir has penned another book, The Immortal Dialogue of K.Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam, in collaboration with Suhail Akhtar. The film Mughal-e-Azam by K Asif, made at an estimated cost of $3 million dollars in 1960, is considered to be the first magnum opus of India's film Industry.

Hollywood's New Moguls

The Canadian Jeff Skoll, 41, was one of the founders of eBay. He sold out in 2001 and is estimated to be worth $5 billion. In 2004, he set up Participant Productions, with a modest bankroll of $100m. Participant has a remit that would have driven Goldwyn to an early grave: “To deliver compelling entertainment that will inspire audiences to get involved in the issues that affect us all.”

DVD Rental in India

Armed with 10,000 titles in English, Hindi and seven regional languages, Seventymm, an Indian DVD Rental company, the first & largest of its kind in India, is readying to roll out its services in six cities, having started off in Bangalore and New Delhi.

Broadband Digital Movies

The digital distribution of filmed entertainment has taken its first steps towards mass
market adoption. However, according to a new report by Screen Digest, “Broadband Digital Movies: European market assessment and forecasts”, whilst these services undoubtedly represent the future path of movie consumption, it is unlikely they will immediately enjoy the success of digital music services such as iTunes and eMusic

HD DVD vs Blu-ray

A new report published by media researchers Screen Digest, "HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc and the future of home entertainment: a strategic analysis" is the first major study to look at the background to the current video format battle and to assess the potential outcomes.