Film-makers set eyes on foreign markets

Change is inevitable and with time, the ways of doing business changes. Digitalization has effectively removed all boundaries and audiences across the world are getting to watch films from different languages.

Simply put, the world is your market now, and the world of films is no exception to this. Indian cinema has been among the earliest entrants to cash in on the new scenario and Bollywood has been chiefly instrumental in bringing our films on to the international stage.

However, it is refreshing to see that even regional filmmakers, especially from South India are embracing the winds of change and making every effort to reach out to audiences in other parts of the world. Let's look at a few films down South which are being dubbed into foreign languages:

Kochadaiyaan,(releasing as Vikrama Simha in Telugu) a Tamil film starring Rajnikanth and Deepika Padukone and directed by Soundarya Rajnikanth.

Apart from being dubbed in major Indian languages, it will also be released in Japanese, Italian and Spanish simultaneously. Rajnikanth has a considerable following in Japan after the audiences there resonated with the philosophical undertones usually prevalent in his movies.

Irandam Ulagam (releasing as Varna in Telugu), is also a Tamil film, directed by Selvaraghavan and produced by PVP cinema. A romantic fantasy starring Anushka Shetty and Arya, Irandam Ulagam, it is being dubbed into Georgian, Russian, Uzbek, and Turkish languages in addition to the mainstream Indian languages.

'Indian cinema is being showcased at various film festivals and audiences are also keen on watching 3D films. So, we have decided to release the film in seven languages,' says a team member of the PVP production house.

Baahubali is a Telugu movie starring Prabhas and Anushka Shetty and directed by SS Rajamouli. Billed as the most expensive film ever to be made in Tollywood, the makers have expressed their desire to release the film in a plethora of foreign languages.

SS Rajamouli contemplated to release Eega; a national award winner in Thai language as Revenge of Musca Domestica. Talks were held with a Thai production house to release the film in Thailand.

Rajamouli strongly feels the time is right for the Telugu makers to take their movies to the international audience. Says he, 'People might be of different race, culture and language, but their emotions remain the same.

Till now, it was Tamil film-makers who were aggressively promoting their films in international markets. Tollywood, despite churning out the second largest number of films in India had always taken a back seat.

A Magadheera or a Mithunam is always a strong contender for world class cinema, yet they could not reach out to an international audience as our makers are yet to master the art of promoting their films to a global audience.

Speaking on the attitude prevalent in the industry, reputed actor-turned-director Tanikella Bharani says, 'There are some small films which are very good, unfortunately the budget constraints cripple the producers in promoting their films on a larger scale.

Big film producers are more concerned about table profits and playing to the gallery and it is very rare to come across somebody with the passion to take his work beyond the hitherto accustomed borders. For Tollywood to go international, it needs dynamic producers with a genuine passion towards cinema.'

However, looks like Telugu cinema is all set to go global. Rajamouli has set the ball rolling with Baahubali and what the change could usher in is a change in sensibilities of Telugu cinema, and concepts more attuned to global audiences while retaining the core or essence of Telugu culture.

Ironically, on the other hand the day might not be far off when in a remote theatre in China, a group of youngsters cheer wildly as NTR Junior slaps his thigh or Ram Charan twirls his moustache on screen.