Entertainment industry poised to zoom new heights

MUMBAI, Aug 18: Sophisticated state-of-the-art technology may have replaced the shaky flickering images and grating noises and sounds in the Indian film industry scenario, but the dream of standing on its own in the international scenario will require more imagination and newer policies.

Bollywood seems to be fast catching up with its Hollywood counterparts in projecting images and soundtracks of the 21st century and international awareness is also catching up with most of the big players in this sector, prompting them to upgrade their technology to match global standards and increase the base of coverage to cater to a larger audience.

The industry, however, feels that the ingredients for success are present but the growth needs to be enabled by the government and the industry through implementation of the various regulatory and policy measures suggested to the policy makers in various foras.

An Arthur Anderson study commissioned by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) points out that the phenomenon of convergence with its counterparts around the world, is expected to drive the growth of industry. However, lot needs to be done before that level is achieved.

It pointed out that there are 117 theatres per million people in the United States, while, in India the figure is a pathetic 12.5 theatres per million. The trend of multiplexes is changing the scenario, and with the exemption of tax on these cinema halls many more multiplexes will emerge in the future, it stated.

In India, cinema continues to be affordable and a popular mass medium for entertainment, the FICCI report further said and added that as a result it has a very wide reach in terms of viewership.

Currently, there are 12,548 theatres catering to a population of one billion and in the next three years with more multiplexes springing up, 111 new screens are expected across the country. With the concept of township gaining importance there is likely to be a higher growth in number. This will accelerate the already rapid growth of the industry, a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report presented during a recent seminar ‘Enter Media 2001’ stated.

The CII feels that the Indian entertainment industry has began its journey to go the corporate way, resulting in a change and rules of the game with professionalism, bottomlines, deadlines, delivery schedules and finance suddenly gaining importance. Thanks to the process of evolution spanning over a century, the hindi film industry has grown in a multi-dimensional manner, with its own brand of art, commerce, communication, craft, expression, folk forms, glamour and the stars.

The dynamics is closely linked to the tastes and preferences of the Indian audiences — the life, times and style of people in India has been reflected and documented in a staggering 67,000 feature films and documentaries in over 30 different languages and dialects.

The growth trend is bound to move northwards provided the Government supports the film industry from time to time, which directly or indirectly supports a workforce of around six million people. The financial institutions will have to leap ahead and finance films and even the insurance companies will have to spread its wings to cover the risks involved in film making.

The Indian entertainment industry is currently worth 3.5 billion dollar as compared to the global figure of 300 billion dollar. A McKinsey report suggests that the Indian media and entertainment industry is expected to grow to 6.5 billion dollar by 2005. Analysts have predicted that the Indian film industry will grow from Rs 9,973 crore (2.21 billion dollar) in 2000 to Rs 31,632 crore (6.69 billion dollar) in 2005.

Driven through commercial principles with several spin-off technologies, catering to the global market, the Indian movies are very popular in the Middle East, Asia, Japan, USA, Fiji and Russia. The reason behind this is that nearly 20 million Indians live abroad.

Though film exports bring most of the revenue, (US dollar 9.7 million dollar in year 2000), financing sources are very limited for fuelling growth in this sector and media and entertainment companies have traditionally been financing themselves through private sources.

While bank financing is available to print and TV companies, the film industry and content software companies have had less of access to formal financing channels owing to the inability of the banking system to lend against intangible collateral like intellectual property. There is also a risk for financing films which many a time may not be box office hits.

This leads to unaccounted money from the mafia links finding its way into this industry and reduces the scope for legitimacy and transparency in operations, the CII report stated. The film makers may have to adopt corporatisation to face the emerging challenges.

CII as well as FICCI, the apex bodies of industrialists and businessmen in India, regret the reluctance of bankers and investors about the trust value of this industry. In the recent times, arrest of big producers and distributors have added to the woes of the investors. Mafia links, absence of complete information on the business, lack of predictability of revenues and profits worry the bankers and investors.

The report also felt that proper policies should settle the issues of copyrights and piracy. Although, it is being addressed, yet the Film Federation of India (FFI) estimates losses of Rs one crore daily on account of these. Almost a third of the music cassettes sold are pirated. This also results in huge loss to the exchequer. Fines, imprisonment, and legal action have announced, which is to a certain extent curtailed the growth of piracy, especially in the music cassette industry.

Technological advance and diversification were the driving forces for enhancing the potential of this industry. The main potential for this industry was expected to come from the television, music and radio segments, which has the highest growth rates. Industry put together has a compounded annual growth rate of 12 per cent from 1996-2000.

However, in India the size of the the film industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is to the order of 0.67 per cent, which is very less as compared to other countries. While in USA it is 2.7 per cent, followed by Brazil (two per cent), thailand (1.3 per cent) and South Africa (1.1 per cent), the McKinsey report states. This shows that it will have to go a long way to be at par with the USA.

CII states that the Government will have to play a pro-active role together with the private players to develop world class infrastructure where India lags resulting in its less competitive nature. Despite India moving on to a more liberalised form of functioning as early in 1991, subsidies and regulatory framework play a major role in determining the competitiveness of the industry.

The CII suggests that the Government needs to rationalise the entertainment tax structure in the states and bring it on a par with the Asian countries. India has a very high rate of entertainment tax compared to other countries. Moreover, international artists wanting to perform in India should feel that the tax structure is more rationale.

Besides this, there has to be world class infrastructure. The film industry together with Government support has taken the initiative in developing world class infrastructure. The industry is also marching towards globalisation with content houses producing for international market various entertainment packages.

The Arthur Anderson-FICCI report states that the industry has also put a firm foot forward with the number of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), including Mukhta Arts, Balaji Telefilms, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Adlabs Films Ltd and Tips.

This, however, is just the beginning of the long journey ahead. Corporatisation and transparent accounting policies would enhance the reputation of the film industry.

Since the time talkies were introduced in the country in 1931, the Indian film industry has produced more than 67,000 films in more than 30 different languages and dialects. By number, the hindi films are the biggest segment (22 per cent), followed closely by Tamil and Telagu (both 20 per cent each). The industry currently, produces at an average 800 films per year. Of these, South Indian films account for 300 to 350 films, hindi films number around 150 to 200 and other regional languages, inkling Bengali accounts for the rest.

The industry costs comprises of production expenses, technician’s expenses, remuneration of artists (such as star cast, director etc), the cost of advertisement and publicity, other personal costs and fixed costs (studio costs). Thus, the FICCI-Arthur Anderson report estimates that the total industry production is around Rs 20.50 billion.

The Indian film companies should diversify into other segments of the entertainment industry, which will not only mitigate the risk associated with films but also enable the companies to cross promote their products across several delivery platforms.

Globalisation and convergence has opened up new avenues of growth for the industry is at the take off stage to scale new heights. Corporatisation and diversification into other areas will be the main drivers, industry analysts feel. Also the industry will have to tap new export markets like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania and South-East Asian countries such as Singapore, Mauritius, Malaysia and Indonesia.

After having granted the films sector the industry status, the Government has announced several bold initiatives to stimulate growth in the industry.

Qualitative infrastructure, technological advancement and transparency in attracting foreign investment are only the initial stepping stones for the industry to gain international recognition. (UNI)

‘Gomaata’ worship on the ‘Karr of Pola’

PARATWADA (Maharastra), Aug 18: When whole of Maharashtra is busy celebrating ‘Pola’ (festival specially observed by farming community to pay obeisance to oxen) today, Belaj, a small village around 15 kms from here is gearing up for the annual ritual of worship of ‘Gomaata’ (holy cow) tomorrow on the occasion of ‘Karr of Pola’.

Showcasing a unique cultural tradition, the Belaj villagers have been following the custom of worshipping the ‘mother cow’ on the next day of pola for the about last 175 years.

The festival, which is a binding gel for the community, is celebrated with contributions from all and sundry, as per their capacity. However, for the farmers who own bullocks, the rate is decided by the number of pairs they own.

All the cows are brought to the ‘Gaothan’ (similar to Chaupal) where an idol of ‘Gomaata’ with her sibling shares the place under huge old Neem and Peepal with Lord Shiva and other deities. A procession is then taken out amidst chanting of ‘Gyanba Tukaram’ with the people dancing to the tune of ‘Dhols’ and ‘Tashes’ and splashing ‘Gulal’ and ‘Bukka’.

The procession, after moving through the village lanes concludes at the local Hanuman temple. The cows are worshipped and ‘Aartis’ offered en masse. Only after the cows are offered ‘Naivaidya’, ‘Prasad’ of coconut, soaked gram pulses and poha is given to everybody.

Another ritual followed religiously over the years is of ‘community meals’, wherein relegating all differences of cast, sex, creed, financial position or post, all the villagers enjoy a combined meal, necessarily vegetarian as the custom goes.

Few of the villagers have come forward to form and register ‘Gomaata Sarvajanik Sanstha’ to ease organisation of the annual ritual. Now the Sanstha organises the procession and coordinates the community meals arrangements with the help of volunteers from the villagers. (PTI)