“People fed on Harry Potter will not tolerate anything mediocre” 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, January 13, 2005 - 09:30 IST
Venus International distribution head, Ashok Jain in the later part of the interview spices the interview with quotes about the Priyadarshan film creating HULCHUL overseas, when audiences went FIDA on Shahid Kapur and the Badshah who rules…
Hulchul is your recent hit. How did you decide to team up with Priyadarshan?
We had earlier worked with Priyanji in Hungama. So there was a certain comfort zone between the two of us. HULCHUL further cemented our rapport. Besides, he is among the more talented filmmakers of today. He understands and portrays comedy like nobody else.
You have taken up international distribution. Fill us on it…
The overseas territory is blooming. The Indian film market is not just attracting the NRI bank but slowly also getting the world cinemagoers into its fold. And that's a very exciting business prospect. We are doing international distribution in US, UK, Mauritius and the likes. Among the films that we marketed, Hungama, Hulchul & Fida have done tremendous business overseas.
Fida, a domestic flop brings in money from abroad. What is the kind of films that the NRI likes to watch?
The Asian crowd out there is highly selective about the films that they want to see. For people who talk about Harry Potter at breakfast; you cannot offer anything mediocre. That's the reason a film like Dhoom could breathe, as the film was slickly packaged. Romances, pop-patriotism and family drama always finds an audience.
That's the reason we see a Dil Ka Rishta and Fida do well in US-UK?
Absolutely.
Among the actors who reign there?
Needless to say it's SRK from 1-10 position. Everybody else comes later. Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan are also strong abroad. People have taken to the new-kid Shahid Kapur quite well.
So you need to skew the marketing accordingly, right?
That's right. Here in India, you can expect a weeklong run for the film, but abroad, it's a 3-day business we look at. People go to theatres only on Sat-Sun. The weekend bursts is what brings in the moolah. Also we conduct all kinds of contests, organize premiers to create a buzz.
After IndiaFM's Hulchul Review went live, you added 9 more prints in the overseas. How does IndiaFM impact overseas?
Unlike the Indian market where the Bollywood music is free flowing, overseas audiences have a limited amount of Bollywood dope. Also, there people are extremely cyber-savvy. They almost breakfast with their PC. And IndiaFM is the yellow pages of the Internet, need I say more.
Being a mega music outfit, where do you see Hindi music heading?
I think music is all set to grow. Movies and most importantly entertainment is becoming a lifestyle brand. Like it or not, movie will continue to be the biggest relief factor. So we are all set to grow big time!
Give me 5 films that you have felt thoroughly satisfied doing?
Baazigar, Akele Hum Akele Tum, Dhadkan and Josh. Hungama-Hulchul is of course history.
What has been the highest point of your career?
HULCHUL it has to be. We got a 100% plus return on the film which was very satisfying.
What's your Elaan for 2005?
(Laughs) Well, we have Elaan, a Priyadarshan release and another untitled venture this year. Besides the international distribution will happen alongside.
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