The phoren release has come full circle with more and more film makers aiming for premieres abroad
A scene from Aatagara
With the huge success of Anup Bhandari’s Rangitaranga which completed 100 days at several theatres in India and aboard, with over 1,200 impressive showings in the US, Europe and other countries, many films are premiering abroad, cashing in on the growing interest of good Kannada films amongst the Indian diaspora. However, not every Kannada film which manages to release in a foreign country ends up doing good business — the makers are satisfied about reaching a wider audience and promoting a good film. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on this trend of foreign releases, and the reality behind it.
Anup Bhandari says, “Rangitaranga was released in the US, Australia, Japan, Singapore, most of the European countries, Malaysia, Hong Kong (1,200 shows). According to me, it is the first film to complete 50 days in the US, collecting ($330,000) Rs 2.1 crores. It ran 50 days in San Jose, three to four weeks in a few places, with two to three weeks in the rest. Totally 1,200 plus shows in US.” He also reveals that in order to release in 30-40 centres weeklong, the distributor needs to spend quite a lot, which also includes other costs. “So unless one is sure about costs, etc, they do not go in for a big release,” he says.
There are huge expectations riding on foreign releases, especially with big budget film makers. A Gandhinagar source says, “Following the huge success of Rangitaranga, many film makers lined up for foreign releases, but in reality even films like Uppi2 failed to do much at the Box Office abroad. According to experts, none of them did well. Uppi2 made around $41,000 to break even. Mr. Airavata released in about eight to nine centres without any profit. Aatagara released recently, and the reports are yet to come.”
Director KM Chaitanya of Aatagara, which is now running towards its 50 day mark in several centres in the state, posted on his social media site, that the film has hit the screens across various centres in the US from October 8. “Firstly, no one gets to know and secondly, foreign audiences watch films based on content. So even star films can go unnoticed. If at all it has to work, a huge round of publicity has to be done to make people aware — and the trailer has to be brilliant,” Anup adds. According to another source, Rangitaranga has made more than the overall overseas collection of all Kannada movies combined. So there is hope for regional cinema abroad, if the wallet is deep, of course.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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