Bollywood can go global if we do not use BJIs Hindi. We all know Bollywood does not employee chaste Hindi, which is BJPs Hindi, because for them Hindustani is unchaste Hindi.
If you go do see in true sense Bollywood Hindi is not Hindi, but Hindustani. Majorities of the words are Urdu and not so-called BJPs Hindi.
Efforts are underway to wean us of this Hindustani by BJP well wishers, but I doubt it will ever work. If we want to go global, we need to change our thinking and mindset first.
Sorry, but random cuts to random fields with random dancers and overhyped melodrama usually a good international film do not make. Bollywood Hollywood was a good film cause it poked fun at all of this. Come up with something creative before trying to go international, Bollywood. You have the resources. Just need the talent.
You are very right to say that our film industry will need lots of boosting and backing up in order to meet it's global target. I am a media student and in our studies, Bollywood hardly comes into play when studying competitor factors. teacher may bring up the swedish films but bollywood is entirely overlooked...why?
Dear Bollywood producers/people who have the power to make a bollywood movie,
If bollywood (bombay based industry) wants to global, these radical measures have to be implemented:-
1) The scripts have to improve. Screenwriters have to paid properly and highly. A great movie can't be made from a crap script, but from a decent script. It has to be based on a good idea.
Jeffrey Katzenberg in his memo said:-
In the dizzying world of moviemaking, we must not be distracted from one fundamental concept: the idea is king. If a movie begins with a great idea, original idea, chances are good it will be successful, even if it is executed only marginally well.
However, if a film begins with a flawed idea, it will almost certainly fail, even if it is made with "A" talent and marketed to the hilt.
e.g. Bollywood films are like McDonalds. You know what you are going to expect. In a hamburger, you have a tomato ketchup, burger,onions, roll & cheese. Mix it up, voila a hamburger. Bollywood films contains:-
1) pointless song and dance sequence 2) A boy and a girl 3) parental opposition by the girl's father 4) boy fancying a girl's best friend.
Throw these elements into a script, voila a bollywood film. Yes, I know it's crude, but I can name numerous bollywood movies that suffer from the above cliches.
Good Ideas are the lifeblood of the industry
What if an alien from outer space was befriended by a young boy? (E.T.)
what if a 3rd-rate fighter had a chance to fight the heavyweight champion of the world? (Rocky)
what if you could stop crimes before they can happen? (Minority Report)
How unique is the above idea, very unique, no film has ever made a script out of that idea. Most bollywood films do not have any decent ideas.
2) Please try can make films that are different. Try to make a sci-fi, horror, thriller, dramas, animation, fantasy films, children films. Films that abide by the genre rules. Films without the customary song and dance sequence for a change. An Indian sci-fi script based on Indian culture, which has a universal theme. A bollywood animation film along the lines of American Toy story / Japanese Spirited Away. I do not want a re-make of toy story / spirited away, but a film which is relevant to Indian culture. What about an Indian fantasy film, in the vein of Lord of the Rings, based on Indian culture. Yes, you can be influenced by cinemas from different nations. George Lucas was influenced by the hidden fortress,flash gordon when he made star wars, but he did not copy "the hidden fortress". Woody Allen was influenced by Bergman and DeSica. John Woo when he made "The Killer" was influenced by Jean Pierre-Melville and Sam Peckinpah. The Wachowski Brothers was influenced by sci-fi literature, kung-fu and other sources to make "The Matrix".
3) If you do not take risks how do you know if a film is going to be successful. When George Lucas made Star Wars, a producer obviously believed in his vision. He took a risk, by pumping money into a project. When Toy Story was in script form, Disney paid the money, they did not know whether it would hit / not, obviously they forecasted, but they took a RISK paying for the film. When Donnie Darko(an American independent film, which can not be made by the major studios) was made, the company took a risk by giving funds to the film-maker, based on his script. When Peter Jackson made "Lord of the Rings", New Line pumped $100 million, they took a RISK. The producers of these films took a risk in believing the dreams of the film-makers. Many bollywood producers would not take a risk on a film that is off-beat. I know horror films would not make as much profits as love stories, but it does not mean you can not make horror films. Look at Monster's Ball (starring Halle Berry & Billy bob Thornton), made by Lions Gate Films (not a major, an independent film company).It has a dark storyline,but it did well. Bollywood actors can try to act in low budget movies, but it will mean they have to take a cut in their salary.Also Bollywood actors take up half the budget of a film, surely that is not right.
3) Please make films that have a certain amount of realism. Not have scenes where a couple is singing, suddenly the scenery changes and there are in fucking Switzerland. Try to make films that are socially relevant to the people. Yes, I know cinema is entertainment, and a lot of the lower classes to not want to see reality, but it will mean that maybe these films can get distribution overseas. which may translate into higher profits. Hollywood has made a films about AIDS (e.g. Philadelphia), Drugs (Traffic), holocaust (Schlinder's List), etc. Where is a bollywood equivalent of these films, most of the films are only love stories.
4) Please do not re-make hollywood films. You can not re-make something like Halloween, that is culture specific to american culture, halloween only happens in America, Ireland and U.K. Also a U.S. producer could not re-make something like Lagaan, which has a scene based on the caste system, which is only relevant to Indians. It would look stupid.
5)The demographic has changed. The producer has to make films due to the changes in the population demographics.There are other forms of entertainment to attract the Indian audience, but Bollywood has to adapt to it. In the 1950s, Hollywood faced competition from TV, then Hollywood introduced Cinemascope. Still in the 90s, Hollywood faced competition from video games, stll it managed to make $9,000,000,000 domestically.
6) Corporatize the business. Where is the Indian studios version of:-
Paramount Miramax Universal Sony
8) I do not want Indians to talk about competing with Hollywood. First make really good films for your market, lower cost of the making of your films, so you can make higher profits. Bring discipline into film production. Once the film is good, the marketing will take over. Hopefully the box office returns will improve due to word-of-mouth, critical reation and huge advertising. Make films for your market first,that is the most important. Make films that are successful in your nation first. Yes, it can happen that a film can flop in the domestic nation & be successful in other nations. I.e. Donnie Darko flopped in the U.S., but it was successful in U.K. But this is very rare.
9) Hopefully the films will play in foreign film festivals. Foreign film distributors will be more choosy & hugely selective when it comes to distributing a bollywood film. It has to be very good, have a universal theme (it helps in foreign terrorities), a Unique Selling Point, a huge word of mouth by a festival film audience and win an award by a film festival. In the U.K., City of God is very successful, it is a brazilian film, got great reviews, it has no star cast/ famous director & has done very well. A bollywood film would have to compete with a hollywood films, domestic(the country where the film is distributed) films and other nations films. Why would the spanish/french/japanese see a bollywood film, instead of a spanish/french/japanese film or hollywood film. Against other films in other nations, most bollywood films would make huge losses for the foreign film distributors. Bollywood would have to make their films properly. Only if they do all the above, they can make more profits in other nations, whether they can compete against other films from Hollywood released in other nations. In the U.S., it's impossible. It can happen, but it has to be a bollywood film that is described as a great film like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was. If bollywood can make an action/crime thriller or a love story that has great reviews, has stars, has a universal theme, huge buzz in the film festivals, wins major awards in film festivals, etc. Then maybe it has a great chance. But I have not seen a bollywood film that has all of that.
I do not think they will compete in the U.S. They can not compete with the majors. Bollywood films do not recieve a foreign distribution deal in other nations, with exception to Lagaan and Devdas.
10) I know bollywood films are reaching the uk top 15, but that is due to the large NRI audience. The NRI audience can recommend certain bollywood films, but the general public would be highly selective in seeing a bollywood film, they would only see it if it had a huge buzz in film festivals, won an award and had major critical reaction from the critics. E.g. City of God, Y Tu Mama Tambien & Monsoon Wedding (not a typical bollywood film).
11) Product placement does happen in hollywood films. E.g. Spiderman, Peter Parker emits a web from his hand to a Dr.Pepper drink. Your Indian products would not sell, because your scripts are crap, so audiences would not see the film or know of the products being advertised in the film itself.
All of the above would enable bollywood to receive more respect from film festivals, film societies in other nations, general public in other nations. This in turn would help more people being employed and contribute to the economy in India.
the only way bollywood can get a significant share of the global movie market, is if they make movies that aren't just about indian cultures. That's the way Hollywood has done it. They have movies that cater to all countries, such as K-19 The widowmaker, it serves a russian point of view, or Romeo Must Die, it served both African american and Chinese points of view. Get some white guys in the moveis and then you'll get a global share. Lagaan had a shit load of white guys and girls and look at it now, its a global hit!
Firstly, The Hollywood budget for a film you stated is wrong, It's not $200 million, it's around $50 million. Secondly, The Bollywood budget for a film is not only 1 to 1/2 million dollors. It has already exceded to $3 million and plans to go for a much bigger budget films.
Hey, Nice article but an average Hollywood movie does not cost $200 million, I live in Southern California and trying to enter the movie business. Terminator3 is made for 150 million(includes marketing and all other promotions). A Hollywood flick is normally made for 50-75 million max. A movie here is considered a hit if the theater sales is over 100 million.
How presumptuous to think that we can sell our cultural product to the world. The Chinese for example have sold their movies to the world to a limited extent - but people watch those movies for the Kung-Fu which is their unique offering. What unique feature do Bollywood movies offer - Johnny Lever?
Even the Iranians have done a great job of selling their movies to the world, because they are sensitive, perceptive views of the human condition.
Indian movies are almost always too loud, garish, obscene and absolutely un-funny. Bollywood is a long way off from making world class movies - and incidentally Lagaan was tripe. I'm sure it was unanimously beaten at the Oscars by 'No Man's Land'. The nomination was just a sop thrown at Bollywood by the MPAA.
The average Hollywood film is not $200 million. How stupid to say so! If every Hollywood film cost that much to make, they would go bust!! As for Bollywood going global. It already has a niche audience. As for competing seriously with Hollywood, you have to bare in mind that apart from some contrived stories, Hollywood atleast brings out interesting films every year. Could Bollywood really ever make a film like 'The Lord of the Rings', or even smaller films like 'About Schmidt' or 'The Hours'? Until Bollywood is completely shaken from head to foot with a new kind of establishment, they will not be able to go up against Hollywood effectivly. After all Bollywood can only offer one genre of film - the musical to the world and Hollywood have already proved that they can do that genre even better with 'Moulin Rouge' and recently 'Chicago'. Bollywood will always have an audience, but to captivate the world - that takes more thinking and talent and genius - which Bollywood does not have yet. They are too caught up in a cancer like nepotism ,that is stopping real talent from coming through.
