INDIA is calling. And the West is heeding its call. As far as Hollywood is concerned these days, Bollywood is the next big thing. Several in...
INDIA is calling. And the West is heeding its call.As far as Hollywood is concerned these days, Bollywood is the next big thing.
Several international stars are heading to India, the latest being Aussie singer Kylie Minogue.
Despite the economic crunch, the 40-year-old recently pocketed ?100,000 ($220,000) a day for a week's work in Mumbai for an Indian movie, Blue. The Caribbean-set actioner is being touted as one of Bollywood's biggest blockbusters, with a ?20 million budget.
It also stars Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif.
Minogue will soon be followed by veteran action hero Sylvester Stallone. The 62-year-old Rocky star is believed to have been paid ?350,000 for a cameo role in Kambakht Ishq (Incredible Love).
His co-star Denise Richards, who apparently has a larger speaking role, was paid ?208,000 for the same movie.
It's not just Mumbai-made Hindi movies that are seeing an influx of foreign talent.
Late last year, Indian newspaper Mid-Day reported that Fantastic Four hottie Jessica Alba may be signing on to star in a Tamil film.
Director Venkatprabhu had approached Alba, 27, for a significant role in his film Goa.
So why is India looking so attractive now?
It is partly what can be called the Slumdog effect. Ever since Slumdog Millionaire - the British film set in the slums of Mumbai - hit Oscar gold, Hollywood has been looking to the sub-continent.
Mr Vin Bhat, the American-born co-founder of Saavn, a New York-based company that is the largest digital distributor of Bollywood movies, music, videos and ringtones, told USA Today that there is more interest in Indian titles now.
'We're seeing a tremendous impact...a lot of people purchasing tracks and albums by (Slumdog composer) A R Rahman.
'People are buying Slumdog - it's an access point for people to explore other movie and musical content from India.'
There is also the lure of cutting costs.
Cheaper alternative
As the economic crunch bites, Hollywood production companies are finding India a cheaper alternative.
Actor Will Smith has long courted India, by being a regular on Indian TV.
The 40-year-old also shows up at Mumbai parties and croons Hindi songs on chat shows. And it has paid off - an Indian studio backed two of his movies for a hefty US$15 million ($23 million), reported The Guardian.
Also in line are A-listers Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis, who are all said to be working out deals with Indian entertainment firms, according to a report in USA Today.
After all, Bollywood churns out more than 1,000 films annually. India's film industry, now worth US$2.2 billion, is expected to grow to US$3.3 billion by 2013, according to a study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
This month, Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG signed a US$1.2 billion deal for 36 movies over six years with Reliance Big Entertainment, reported the Washington Post.
Reliance, one of the most aggressively expanding film companies in India, will have 50 per cent control in this tie-up.
Its chairman Amit Khanna told the newspaper: 'There is a natural synergy between the film industries in India and the US.
'India is a democracy, has a massive movie-going market and an open entertainment policy with no government restriction.'
Hollywood studios such as Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Sony and Fox are already co-producing movies in India.
Last month, the international arm of the Motion Picture Association of America set up an office in Mumbai to represent the growing interests of Hollywood studios and try to tackle the US$400 million pirated video market.
But all that enthusiasm doesn't necessarily translate into dollars or rupees.
Naysayers are quick to point out that the Indian film is no longer a novelty.
Way before Slumdog Millionaire, the West was already quite aware of movies on the Indian psyche.
Back in 1999, Indie flick East Is East, about an Indian family in London, scored four Bafta nominations.
Two years later, Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding pulled in a Golden Globe nomination.
In 2002, Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham became a box-office smash and gave British actress Keira Knightley her breakout role.
But there have also been duds.
Gurinder's next two projects - Bride & Prejudice (a Bollywood remake of the Jane Austen classic) and The Mistress Of Spices (which she co-wrote) - bombed.
Never mind that both featured former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, who has been invited to Cannes as a judge.
The cross-cultural fusion doesn't always work.
Marigold, released in 2007, boasted Heroes babe Ali Larter and Bollywood hunk Salman Khan, but wilted on both sides of the Pacific.
So perhaps this projected India boom may be limited.
Box-office analyst Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, told USA Today: 'The people who go to see (a slapstick comedy like) Paul Blart: Mall Cop aren't going to start watching Bollywood films.'
East-West balance
The key, say observers, is finding the right balance between East and West.
Mr Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India, a group of entertainment and news channels owned by Fox, told the Washington Post: 'If Slumdog was made by an Indian director, would it have made the same splash?
'When an Indian makes a movie for an international audience, he has to first sell himself and then the movie. A few Indian investments here and there will not shake Hollywood into accepting Indian content and talent.'
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