Regional Indian Cinema

Jagadeesh Yaramada

Introduction• Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of

number of films made every year• Films are produced in about 24 languages• In 2009, the size of the Indian films industry was

estimated to be around Rs 116 billion• There are three main players in the film industry value

chain – the producer, distributor, and exhibitor.

Overview

Indian Cinema

Hindi

Telugu

Tamil

Malayalam

Kannada

Bengali

Bhojpuri

Marathi

Some popular names

Hindi Film Industry Bollywood

Telugu Film Industry Tollywood

Tamil Film Industry Kollywood

Kannada Film Industry Sandalwood

Number of films censored (2010)

Hindi 215

Tamil 202

Telugu 181Kannada 177

Marathi 99

Malay-alam 94

Bengali 84

Bhojpuri 64

Others 172

Total films: 1288

Source: Central board of film certification

Share of screens

Andhra Pradesh

23%

Tamilnadu 12%

Kerala 12%Karnataka 10%

Maha-rashtra 9%

Others 34%

Source: CRISIL Research

Prominence of Regional Cinema

• Due to cultural differences and language barriers, Hindi cinema was not able to reach all parts of India

• Regional cinema was able to bridge this gap by providing cinemas in local languages, especially in South India

• Noticing the tastes of local population other states have also started making movies to cater to the local population

• Regional cinema has produced prominent artists and technicians like A.R. Rahman, Mani Ratnam, S.P. Balasubramaniam, Kamal Hasan etc.,

• Numerous regional films, artists and technicians have won awards at nation level

Recent Trends

• Multiplex cinemas are fast changing the way movies are viewed, particularly in big cities.

• Corporate houses have started entering movie production• Sources of revenue have increased

– Digital Rights (Internet rights, ring tone downloads)– Satellite rights (Has increased significantly)– Music rights– Overseas rights

Challenges

• It is estimated that 15-20 per cent of the annual revenues earned is pocketed by pirates.

• Availability of theaters to small movies during a big hero movie release

• Delay in production and big hero’s taking 2-3 years between each movie release is impacting the lives of production buys who depend on the daily wages