SONY ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION'S
DEBUT OVERSEAS FILM DISTRIBUTION

"MISSION KASHMIR" - SETS A PRECENDENCE

Mission Kashmir, was released world-wide by Sony Entertainment Television, kicking off with a star-studded World Premiere in the U.K. on 26th October 2000 at the famous West End Cinema Piccadilly Plaza in London. Sony Entertainment Television flew an entourage of over 40 people from Bombay especially for the premieres in London, U.K. and New York, U.S.A. The film's Producer-Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Creative Producer Vir Chopra, top stars Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Sonali Kulkarni and Puru Rajkumar were flown to London on 26th October 2000. Along with them the top technical crew of Associate Director & Cinematographer Binod Pradhan, Associate Director Ram Madhvani, Music Directors Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, Editor Rajkumar Hirani, Writers Vikram Chandra, Abhijat Joshi and Suketu Mehta, Dialogue Writer Atul Tiwari, Art Director Nitin Desai were also flown to London.

It was truly an unbelievable experience. The stars and crew arrived on the morning of the premiere in London and with just about an hours rest, attended a packed press conference comprising of primarily the mainstream media be it press or television. The Daily Telegraph, the BBC, Evening Standard, ITV, along with the Asian media of Eastern Eye, Zee TV, Stardust, Cine Blitz etc. were eager to interview the stars and crew. The press conference lasted for two hours after which they immediately proceeded for the gala Champagne Premiere at The Piccadilly Plaza attended by politicians, ambassadors, industrialists, celebrities, socialites, journalists and of course hundreds of screaming fans. Security around the venue was so heavy that the traffic around Piccadilly Circus was almost at a standstill.

As if that was not enough, the premiere was followed by an exclusive party, which went on till the early hours of the morning. The highlight was the stars and crew taking the dance floor by storm when the live band was belting out the hit songs from the film.

Catching barely any sleep the stars and crew then flew in the wee hours of the morning for the premiere in New York, U.S.A. on 27th October 2000. The same rigorous schedule awaited them in New York. After just a couple hours of landing, they attended a press conference in New York at the Marriott Marquis, Times Square.

And then on to the Premiere at the Loews Theatre, Times Square. This was the first time that a Hindi feature film was premiered at the world famous Times Square. The premiere here too was an invitee only affair attended by a niche crème de la crème of politicians, top dignitaries, celebrities, and journalists. Once again hordes of fans surrounded the venue to catch a glimpse of the stars. As in London, the premiere was followed by an exclusive cocktails and dinner at the Marriott Marquis over looking the Times Square. The party's highlight was the grand finale, when the stars and entire crew of the film took on the stage and sang and danced in unison to the hit song from the film "Bhumbro". It was almost 56 hours since they started their journey to London and they were still going strong.

After 60 hours of hardly any rest the mind-blowing experience of 2 world premieres across 2 continents within 24 hours of each other came to an end. As usual, Sony Entertainment Television had pulled off a coup of sorts. As with the television industry, truly it had entered the film industry too with a bang. Never had the industry witnessed a premiere on such a grand scale that too in London and New York. It certainly came as a breath of fresh air from the usual premieres held in Bombay. It came from Sony Entertainment's vision for the largest film industry in the world, to be a truly a global industry with an audience that is not restricted to Asians only. Crossover into main stream will not be just a dream.

The high end marketing blitz, across all mass media also ensured that the film received the due publicity it deserved. The editorial coverage in both the print and audio-visual media was unprecedented. Both the BBC and CNN, as well other channels are using Mission Kashmir a reference point in all types of topical, entertainment as well as current affairs programmes.

Sony's belief that Hindi films are on par with those made in Hollywood, is reflected in its first venture, Mission Kashmir which is receiving rave reviews in U.K. and U.S.A., that too from the mainstream media and trade pundits. Released with a record-breaking number of prints, the highest ever of 135 prints. The film was also released in record breaking number of cinemas. In the U.K. it was released in 30 theatres and for the first time it was released primarily in the main stream cinema multiplexes. Sony tied up with these chains of multiplexes: Warner Cinemas, Odeon Cinemas, UCI Cinemas, UGC Cinemas, along with the Asian circuit cinemas. In a few of the multiplexes, the film was shown in up to 3 screens in the same multiplex. In the U.S.A. and Canada it was released in 56 theatres, once again with the main focus being the main stream multiplexes. Here, Sony tied up with the Loews and Regal chain of cinemas, and some of the multiplexes showed the film in 4 screens in the same multiplex.

Unlike some big blockbuster films, Sony was also sensitive to the fact that the cinema-goer should not be charged a ticket price higher than other Hindi films released and maintained the normal rates in existence in the respective countries.

Further, in support of the industry's on going efforts in combating piracy, Sony at the cost of losing substantial revenues, delayed the release of the film in the U.A.E, and Malaysia, territories infamous for piracy. The gamble paid of where in, the DVD of any new film is available after 24 hours of its theatrical release but the DVD of Mission Kashmir is still not out in the market after 10 days of release. In the U.S.A. with the support of its parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) / Columbia Tristar, Sony conducted raids at specific locations, where it had information of possible DVD piracy to exist. The raids left potential piracy efforts in a limbo as empty DVD covers of the film were seized. It is believed that had this raid not been conducted, it would have impacted the box-office collections not only in America but India as well, where the bulk of the shipment was headed for.

In other parts of the world, viz. Mauritius, Singapore, Australia and East Africa, etc. the film is running to packed houses. The mind-blowing performances and the technical brilliance of the film, is being appreciated to such an extent that in three of the above countries, extra prints have been asked for.

Sony Entertainment Television, now looks forward to its forthcoming ventures. The year 2001 will see, Sony associated with many more top class films. If the success of Mission Kashmir is anything to go by, it has a tough act to follow !!!

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