HYDERABAD: Nine billion dollars. That’s the amount George Lucas made just off his Star Wars merchandise.
With it, he gave the industry what we now call the entertainment licensing. One move and Star Wars was a merchandising powerhouse, a model cloned in no time. Walt Disney jumped on to the wagon. Harry Potter’s already loading close to 12 billion dollars. Mr & Mrs Smith flashed their Tissots while James Bond’s cashed in billions with his fancy suits, snazzy cars and super gadgets.
That’s Hollywood - they invent the formula, we copy it. Cut to home ground, and Bollywood’s getting a grip of this whole new money minting machine - movie merchandise. The Roshans made their bit off Krrish. Despite the flop, Harry Baweja raked in enough through spy gadgets, hovercrafts, interactive robots and the boo doll. Farah Khan got her returns from clothing line - apparently these sell the most. Even Ram Gopal Varma sold his Bhoot dolls. Roadside Romeo has an interactive website, and news is that a game around Ghajini too is being planned. It may be directly proportional to the box office fate of the film, but c’mon, wouldn’t you just love to have that tee Shah Rukh was wearing or a sexy pair of jeans Hrithik had slipped in, John’s underwear, or for that matter, Madhuri’s gorgeous ninety nine yards of gold saree, Bips and Bebo’s funky fashion line-up? Boutique owners went mad when women crashed in to get that exact copy of Madhuri’s purple saree in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. After the release of Maine Pyaar Kiya and Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin, everyone was seen tipping a Friend and Captain cap. Once Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was out, the cool chain became a rage. So did those snappy friendship bands.
Dolls, masks, key chains, school bags and Tshirts, the new media with its ring tones, smses, games - the Hindi film industry is looking to duplicate the Hollywood effect. Although Bollywood trade analysts like Komal Nahta define this as a nascent stage, director-producer Harry Baweja, despite the BO blooper, was more than happy with his earnings. “Earlier, we had all these romantic films with little or zero scope for merchandise...
it was limited to apparel. But now films have superheroes, new technology, stars are treated as brand ambassadors and there’s a young audience ready to lap it up,” quips Baweja. While Baweja feels it’s dependent on the longetivity of the character - a hit superhero sells, Nahta says it’s related to BO results. “If the film flops, the merchandise to an extent fails. Hollywood makes millions, we’ve just crossed a crore!” Nahta is waiting for Rab Ne Bana Jodi and Big Pictures big plans with it. Meanwhile, Sesha Saye, Director Walt Disney Company, Corporate Communications term their division as the Disney Difference. “For us, it’s constant story-telling that goes beyond the film,” he says. So it’s comic books, shows, websites, ringtones, games, collectibles, downloads, music, toys...”technology is the key focus are for us and the new media makes immense space for entertainment opportunities,” Sesha’s quite positive.
A word with the big players in movie merchandise, Zapak, Arun Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd says the life of the merchandise is more than the life of the movie.
“Therefore, the merchandise not only creates a lot of promotion and buzz around the movie before it releases but it also keeps it alive even after the movie is off the theatres.” Zapak forayed in the business of movie merchandising as a leader with Bhoothnath and restarted this trend which was taken over by pirates. “Right now film-makers are looking at extending the life span of their movies beyond the four to five week stint in cinema halls. The life of a game or toy (in most cases) is more than the life of the movie,” Zapak’s created merchandise for Drona which includes toys and games. There’s a series of comics too called “The Adventures of Drona ”. The company also brought out Love Story 2050’ s space carrier, space listener, Priyanka’s cuddly robot pet Boo, then there’s ‘ Hari Puttar : A Comedy of Terrors’ for with its magic tricks for kids, brain twisters and teasers. Recently, Percept with Bollywood Retail are expected to invest Rs 500 million to sell Bollywood merchandise. Like they say: Show me the money! Jaskiran Kapoor.