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India's prolific film industry, which for decades has been content to feed its vast domestic market, is increasingly turning its gaze overseas where the Indian Diaspora promises a rich new source of profit. According to Supran Sen of the private Film Federation of India (FFI), India exported films worth 4.5 billion rupees ($104 million) in the year to March 2000, an increase of almost 30 percent over the previous year.
The FFI is the apex body of all domestic film industry organizations. Sen said the overseas demand for Indian films started growing around five years ago. "Before that the export figures were quite dismal, averaging about 500 million rupees a year." The growing importance of the overseas market was reflected in the decision of the Indian film industry - based in Bombay, or "Bollywood" - to choose London's Millennium Dome as the venue for its annual film awards last month. It was the first time the Indian equivalent of the Oscars had been held outside the country.
Sen said 95 percent of India's film exports were Hindi-language movies. India produces around 800 films a year, of which 200 are in Hindi and the rest in regional languages like Tamil. London is the second biggest market outside India, and Hindi movies have for the first time begun breaking into the top-20 list of box-office draws in Britain.
Two major cinema groups in Britain are preparing to open new complexes with screens dedicated to Bollywood films. Other overseas markets include the United States, Middle East, Fiji, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Film industry analyst Vinod Mirani said the newfound interest in Indian films had helped to improve traditionally poor production values. "Technically Indian films are now far superior than before. There are also a large number of Indians going overseas for work or permanently. "A large number of local television stations and cinema halls overseas want to cater to the migrant Indian population," Mirani said.
Several Indian entertainment software companies are basing their expansion plans on the potential growth in demand from outside India. The Sahara group recently announced plans to set up a two billion-rupee film and television infrastructure facility in Bombay to cater to the domestic and overseas market. "We will have the capacity to produce 5,000 hours of entertainment software. We do not need all of it and will sell it overseas as well as locally," Sahara chairman Subrata Roy said.
"People overseas are willing to pay huge amounts of money for Indian software. If we are able to develop it, technically as well as content-wise, we will be able to grow into a major global supplier," Roy said. Indians are passionate about films. Some 20 million Indians are estimated to watch movies daily in 13,000 movie theatres across the country
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