Hollywood finances Bollywood

Hollywood's leading studios are gearing up to collaborate with their counterparts in India to produce and finance 'Hindi' films. Interestingly, the so called 'crossover' cinema takes a back seat. The new realisation in Hollywood is to make Hindi cinema for the growing Hindi audiences as the US and European markets come to a saturation point.

According to latest reports, Warner Bros. has joined the Bollywood race with its first India production "Made in China", an action comedy, featuring Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. It will be directed by Nikhil Advani. The other producers are Ramesh Sippy Productions and Orion Pictures.

With the number of multiplexes coming up in big and small towns in India, the Indian box-office is growing whereas the sale of cinema tickets is declining in a number of developed countries. The attendance per site is also coming down.

Hollywood watchers have also noticed that Indians, despite all marketing blitz of the English films, still prefer to entertain themselves by watching their own cinema in their own language. Hindi being the biggest market offers a bigger slice of revenue in a growing market.

In a press release issued on 21st August 2007, Warner Bros. says:

Principal photography will get underway in Jan 08 on “MADE IN CHINA” starring Akshay Kumar under the direction of Nikhil Advani.

Shooting on location in China will mark a first for an Indian production. The film marks the union of director Nikhil Advani with Ramesh Sippy Productions for the first time. Akshay Kumar teams up with Nikhil Advani in this Action packed film that will give ample scope to showcase Akshay’s combined Martial arts & comedic skills.

In “Made In China,” Akshay Kumar stars as Sidhu, a lowly Mumbai cook who is mistaken for a Martial arts hero. Giving him glamorous company is well known model & upcoming actress Deepika Padukone.

The film has been written by Shridhar Raghavan (Khakee, Bluff Master) & the Music is to be composed by the well known composing trio of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani & Loy Mendonca.

Commenting on the same Ramesh Sippy said “At the turn of the century there was a lot of promise in the air about globalization in Indian Cinema & now with this venture RSE and Orion are joining hands with Warner Bros. bringing that dream closer to reality and certainly what we hope to achieve at the minimum is a greater knowledge and understanding of the workings and systems of Hollywood and the Indian Film Industry. And I am sure we both stand to gain a lot from each other.”

"We are excited and proud to be working with such respected partners as Ramesh Sippy and Orion," said Blaise Fernandes, Country Manager, Warner Bros. Entertainment India. "We'll count on our partners' expertise and will do everything in our power to make a well-crafted, popular and successful Indian film."

Nikhil Advani will be helming an action film for the first time. He has previously directed the hit drama-musicals “Salaam-E-Ishq” & “Kal Ho Na Ho.”

Ramesh Sippy’s production company has in the past produced films such as “Bluff Master & Taxi No. 9211”. Ramesh Sippy himself is the director of “Sholay” which is one of India’s biggest blockbusters of all time.

The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company--- Press Release by Warner Bros.

Before Warner's initiative, Hollywood projects in India included Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’, backed by Sony Pictures, Disney’s collaboration with Indian giant Yash Raj Films to produce ‘Roadside Romeo’ and other animated projects, and Viacom’s joint venture with the TV 18 group, who recently launched the Indian Film Company on AIM of London Stock Exchange.

According to the US entertainment magazine Variety: Hollywood has gone local in other places around the globe -- Warner was a backer of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's smash "A Very Long Engagement" in France , while Sony was key to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," often held up as the epitome of local production combined with Hollywood distribution strength – but India represents special circumstances.

In Hindi-language Bollywood, and India's other local language industries, it is up against local incumbents that are not only king at the box office, they utterly define entertainment in India. Film scores and song and dance tunes from Bollywood movies are the dominant musical genre, while local stars dominate the advertising market -- and many a roadside -- through their product endorsements.

So far in 2007 Hollywood has had a happy 2007 in India, with "Spider Man," "Harry Potter" and "Pirates of the Caribbean". But that success has highlighted what a small share of the Indian movie biz Hollywood currently enjoys in a sector where new multiplexes mean the B.O. pie is growing ---Variety.

According to media reports, American studios are hoping to increase their share of $1 out of the $20 spent at the box office by climbing on the Bollywood bandwagon and not fighting it out. The realisation has sunk in that only four percent of the Indian movie market has been captured by the US movies. And it seems to be aiming for at least 90 percent.

While the jury is still out on whether made-in-Hollywood studios will be able to take Indian cinema to a non-Asian audience, Karan Johar, a highly successful Bollywood filmmaker, is certain that Indian studios may not be able to.

He said: 'Let's have no illusion. We can never dominate the North American market. Let's not expect that the non-Asian audiences will watch our films. UK does to a point, as the association goes back a long way. If we think our movies are going to get 6,000 screen releases in North America, it isn't happening.'

With movie audiences shrinking in America and swelling in India, Hollywood wants to tap into India's market.