THE film awards season in India has almost come to a close. The Filmfare Awards, regarded as the Indian Oscars, was held at the end of last month. It was wonderful to see the coming-of-age drama, Udaan, a film that was not Bollywood-like in any way, winning the most awards – seven including Best Picture (Critics Award). Other more typically Bollywood films that won major awards included My Name Is Khan and Dabangg.
Luckily, we in the Cape were able to see these films as they were released here last year. There were many we missed out on, as film distributors saw fit to only bring selected titles to Cape Town. But in the first two months of this year we have already lost out on some much-anticipated titles. The Indian film industry has had a great start to the year. There have been at least six high-profile films released in India and all of them have made it here, but only two – No One Killed Jessica and Patiala House – were released in the Mother City.
The films we’ve missed out on are the family comedy Yamla Pagla Deewana starring father Dharmendra and sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, Dhobi Ghat with Aamir Khan and directed by his wife Kiran Rao, the romantic comedy Dil To Baccha Hai Ji featuring Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi, and the eagerly awaited 7 Khoon Maaf with the exceptionally talented Priyanka Chopra. All have been relatively well received at the Indian box office and would have probably had a good innings at the Cape Town box office as well.
But, it appears that those in charge at Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor still can’t quite grasp the Bollywood plot when it comes to deciding how to release films. So many times have we lost out on popular titles when Durban and Joburg have two cinemas playing the same film. The Bollywood market here is very specialised, compared to the Hollywood market. But there is a definite opportunity to grow it, if these companies made any discernable effort to attempt a proper strategy. A manager at Nu Metro Canal Walk confirmed that many patrons were disappointed that the abovementioned films were not released locally, especially since the trailers had been playing for a while and expectations were high. But there were no answers forthcoming on why films are not making it to our silver screens.
AB Moosa of the Avalon Group of Cinemas, a leading distributor of Bollywood product, says: “While I am at the moment probably the main importer of Bollywood films, I depend on Nu Metro to release them as I have limited screens and they have many more. I also don’t have any cinemas in the Cape. While I would like to see all films released in the main centres, it’s beyond my control as companies like Nu Metro ultimately decide on where to place their product.” He added that he was looking for a suitable site to open a multiplex which would become a dedicated Bollywood site.
In the meantime, we are at the mercy of people who seem to have no idea how to market their product properly. So, Mr Moosa, on behalf of all Bollywood fans in the Cape, I say we eagerly await your dedicated Bollywood cinema site.