The last decade or so has witnessed a remarkable leap for South Indian films, both in terms of the diverse range of stories and their phenomenal performance at the box office. The tables have turned to the extent that it has changed the general perception among foreigners that Indian cinema is only Bollywood.
South Indian films, especially those from Malayalam, are now making a mark in uncharted global territories, reaching audiences beyond the Indian diaspora. Indywood Distribution Network (IDN), a distribution and sales company, has been at the forefront of this movement, by identifying emerging markets and introducing Indian regional language films to a new section of the international audience.
IDN is an integral part of the Indywood Entertainment Consortium, launched by Aries group chairman and filmmaker Sohan Roy. In the last couple of years, IDN has facilitated the international release of biggies like Jr NTR’s Devara (Portugal), Sivakarthikeyan’s Ayalaan (Cambodia), Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Aadujeevitham (Mauritius), with more ambitious plans in place.
We talk to Shyam Kurup, the director of IDN, to learn more about the intricacies of global film distribution, the company’s objectives, and the potential reach of Indian films in international markets.
Excerpts
What inspired the thought of a global sales and distribution network?
Every year, major international film summits are held in Cannes, Berlin, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. We have noticed countries like South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan aggressively promoting their films at the summit. Their ministers, cultural ambassadors, and high commission officials will be present to promote their films. These films can’t recover their investment by releasing in their native countries alone, so they have to promote across borders. It left me wondering why we aren’t promoting our films on a similar scale.
There will be hardly any Indian representation except for a couple of big Indian corporations who are there to sell their own films. There’s no helping hand for independent producers and regional films. I thought IDN should be the bridge between regional films and the global market. Similarly, each country has sales agents who help sell their films in foreign territories. Korea and Japan have around ten each. Even smaller countries like Taiwan and Hong Kong have five or more, but India doesn’t have one. I realised that Indian films are not reaching many countries because of the lack of credible sales agencies. That motivated me and currently, we’re the only cross-border sales company for Indian films.
How do you pick films for distribution and the regions where they should be promoted?
It’s entirely based on experience. Back in 2010, we made Dam 999, which was made on a massive budget. We realised we wouldn’t be able to recover the investment by releasing it in India alone, so we took it to global markets. That exposure was a major learning experience. Over the years, I’ve interacted with representatives from various countries to understand the demands of each market. In most of these regions, they assume Indian cinema is just Bollywood and are hesitant to take up such films because of the usual love-song-dance routine.
So, I mostly pick content that suits a particular market. For example, in China, there’s massive acceptance for films that portray women as superheroes, like Dangal, Secret Superstar, Mom, the Tamil film Kanaa, and even films like Padman and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, that talk about social issues concerning women. Maharaja’s stellar success is the only recent anomaly. Similarly in Latin America, disaster-based works work well because floods and dam disasters are common there. That’s why we’re planning to release the Malayalam film 2018 there in over 400 screens. It will be the first-ever Indian film to be released theatrically there.
In Russia, there’s a market for any film with dogs or pets. Like say, 777 Charlie and Valatty. In Japan, you need big epics like Baahubali and RRR. Countries like France prefer arthouse films and Taiwan prefers action. It’s upon us to ensure we launch with the right film. If the first film fails, it will be hard to regain their trust. Ayalaan was the first South Indian film to be released in Cambodia. It was well received and now I’ll have to find other similar alien films. It needs extensive research to identify the market demands.
Some of these films, like 2018 and Valatty, were released three years ago and are now available on streaming platforms. Will that affect their global run?
If it’s a traditional market where Indian films are in demand like the UK, US, and Australia, then delayed releases can have a huge impact. That’s why we see most big films getting simultaneously released there. In non-traditional markets, we can afford to release it after a couple of years, but not too late. Even if a film like 2018 comes on Sony LIV, not many from Latin America would be watching it. We are planning to release Vikram and Malaikottai Vaaliban in Japan this year.
Vikram would be the first Tamil film to have a customised release for the Japanese audience and it will be out in May. The Japanese team will be visiting the shooting locations in Tamil Nadu to capture the visuals and document them. They’re planning to go all out to promote it like any other film, not as an Indian film. They have similar plans for the Malayalam film Malaikottai Valiban, which will be introduced there as ‘The Mountain Hero’, and released by the end of the year.
Films like Malaikottai Valiban and Valatty weren’t commercially successful during their original run. How does that impact their international distribution?
It depends. What’s best for us may not be the best for these countries, and vice versa. In some countries, films are picked based on their IMDb ratings. In South Korea, you won’t get approval to release a foreign film if the rating is below 5. In China, it can’t be less than 7.5. There are also action films with ratings as poor as 2-3, but distributors in some countries will go for it because there are takers for action.
What are the major challenges in global film distribution?
The major challenge is acquiring digital rights. Japanese and Korean film industries sell all their rights separately for each country. But here, we sell our digital and satellite rights for the whole world. Say if an Indian platform picks the worldwide streaming rights of a film, it becomes difficult for us to sell the film in other countries. It’s too risky for a distributor to release a film with theatrical rights alone. Digital rights are his backup. If a film fails in theatres, he’ll be able to utilise its digital potential.
Another challenge is the reluctance to screen films for distributors before their release. In India, film distribution deals are usually signed without watching the content. But it won’t work like that for foreigners, who are unaware of the stars or their potential. While it’s a common practice worldwide to screen films for distributors before release, Indian producers are reluctant fearing the possibility of piracy. So we have to settle with post-release distribution deals, because of which our regional films don’t get the price they deserve. Then there’s the issue with the duration of our films. Because of all the songs and dance numbers, our films are very lengthy, while foreigners prefer to keep them under 120 minutes.
Do you also take creative calls like editing out song and dance portions?
Yes, we do. Contracts are signed beforehand, which permits us to do it. The foreign distributors also ask our opinions on what worked in India. Somewhere it’s all common because it’s human emotions after all. Sometimes we change titles to suit the cultural contexts of the given region. There are many other factors, like how in China, we are not allowed to show any portions with ghosts or spirits.
What are the plans for Marco in South Korea?
Unni (Mukundan) is very proactive with how he wants to position the film. He prepared a business cut, which is not the norm for Indian films. The distributors liked it as it gave a clear idea of what the film offers. They might have to edit out some portions because of the violence, but other than that, it’s set for a grand release.