Focus

EXPORT MARKET DOES THE SHRINKING ACT
Blame it on the rampant DVD piracy

Starved of releases of good Indian films, coupled with the rampant piracy of Digital Video Discs (DVD), the overseas market of Indian films has been steadily losing ground and has shrunk considerably. There was an opportunity for Indian films to make a sizable dent in the American market. Indian films used to be shown in 40 to 45 cinemas in America. The number of cinemas showing Indian films could have gone up with the release of two or three hit films this year. But this has not happened because of DVD piracy, which is rampant. This menace has adversely hit the theatrical collections of Indian films in America.

Since hardware is becoming cheaper by the day, people prefer to buy a DVD, costing 10 to 20 dollars apiece, enabling them to see a film at home with all the family members, which is much cheaper than going to a theatre. The overseas market for Indian films had shot up to Rs 500 crore last year but in view of the drop in theatrical collections by 25 per cent in USA-Canada, which is the main export market for Indian films, export earnings of Indian films will come down, this fiscal year.

It may be mentioned that an overseas exporter buys not only the theatrical rights but also the video, cable, satellite and other rights for the world territory (excluding India). It is because of the sale of combined rights (theatrical and others) that the overseas price of a film has gone up considerably. The exporters pay this high price because they get substantial money from satellite companies like B4U, Sony, Zee and Star TV, which are vying with each other in acquiring Indian films for showing on their channels. Today, if the exporter is incurring losses in the theatrical circuit, he is making it good by selling a film to these channels at a high price. But this won’t last long. Which is why it is urgently necessary for the Indian Film Exporters Association (IFEA) to take steps to put an end to the DVD menace.

It may be recalled that the Indian Film Exporters Association is collecting Rs 1000 per print from its members to curb piracy. This amount should come in handy for the Association to attain its objective of curbing and eliminating DVD piracy.

PIRACY’S AKIN TO CANCER
Pahlaj Nihalani
PAHLAJ Nihalani, president of the Indian Film Exporters Association, said that rampant video piracy during the last two months had ruined an otherwise prosperous business. "We are making all out efforts to stop the DVD menace," he said and added, "we have not only written to the External Affairs Ministry but also to the High Commissioner of India to stop piracy emanating from Malaysia. There are pirates in Palika Bazar in Delhi who are indulging in making DVDs and exporting them to the United Kingdom and the United States. We have sought the help of the Delhi police to nab the culprits who are indulging in piracy. DVD piracy is like a cancer. While video cassettes did not have the requisite quality, a DVD has the quality of a film and as such it is dangerous for the theatrical business. If DVD piracy is not eliminated, the overseas theatrical business of Indian films will be doomed."

THERE’S BEEN A 25% FALL
Sundar F Rai
SUNDAR F Rai, former vice-president of the Indian Film Exporters Association, said that the export market had gone down. The main reason for this was that the DVDs of the latest Indian releases were hitting the market within two to three days of the film’s showing in the UK and USA-Canada, which were the main overseas markets for Hindi films. Since audiences abroad can afford to buy a DVD, they prefer to watch the newly released film in their cosy homes with the entire family. If they went to a cinema hall to see the movie, it would cost them much more. "We do not know who makes these pirated copies," Sundar Rai said.

"A DVD can be made from any print. Since the reproduction is very good, it is as good as watching a film in cinema theatres with equally good sound effects. If this piracy is not checked, the screening of Hindi films in theatres in the USA and Canada will come down drastically. It is not a loss to the producers who are getting a better price by selling overseas rights including theatrical, satellite, DVD, cable and all other rights. The fall in the theatrical collections of Indian movies is now about 25 per cent. About 50 prints used to be exported to the USA-Canada region but now the number has come down to 30 prints. When Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge was exported, 41 prints were sent to USA-Canada and 28 to UK. Now for Josh, only 30 prints were sent to USA- Canada and 25 to the UK. However, there is no change in the number of prints sent to overseas territories like Kenya, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Tanzania, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius and Australia. The fact that the number of prints now being sent to the UK has decreased by two or three and those being sent to the USA-Canada have decreased by 10 to 12 is a disturbing trend. Immediate steps should be taken to curb the piracy. Unfortunately, there are different laws for piracy of Hollywood films. There is a big anti-piracy machinery which sees to it that piracy of Hollywood films is curbed whereas there is no agency for Indian films to stop the menace of DVD," Rai added.

THERE ARE OTHER REASONS, TOO
Chandrakant Mehta
CHANDRAKANT Mehta, exporter, said that the current rate of prices was not workable. The reason was that irrespective of whether the film was big or small, the DVDs and CVDs hit the market within two days of the film’s release in America and Britain. Hardware was becoming cheaper day by day and was affecting theatrical business, he pointed out.

"Unless the DVD piracy is stopped, the overseas market for Indian films will collapse," he asserted, and added, "another reason why there is a drop in the export earnings is that after Taal no big film has been released which could surpass its collections. There is a shortage of films. The overseas market is starved of big films that would do good business in the overseas market. The theatrical release of Indian films abroad is through middlemen, who are finding it difficult to recover the rental amount paid by them to the cinema owners for showing the films because they are to pay the rentals if the films do less business in theatres due to piracy. In India, an exhibitor pays minimum guarantee to a distributor but this is not the case abroad, where a middleman books Indian films only if he feels sure that the film collections would cover not only the theatre rent but also leaves for him some profit."

Chandrakant Mehta pointed out that the price of a film for the overseas market is so high that it does not match in terms of returns. Exporters who buy satellite rights along with the theatrical ones are not losers because what they lose at the theatre they make good through their satellite income, he said and felt that for other exporters it was difficult to pay a high price when the returns are not assured. According to him, another stiff opposition faced by Indian films was from the satellite channels and local TV stations showing films round the clock.

Talking about availability of theatres in the US for Indian films, he pointed out that there was no dearth of cinema halls. " Out of the 300 films that America produced," he said, "hardly 10 to 15 per cent of them were released locally by big companies, while the rest were sent to third world countries. But many American films are also not doing good business and as a result theatres are closing down. We could have booked these theatres, if we had more films, but as it is, we have shortage."


MSM Desai