The Sunday Mail
Among the few things to bear in mind as Ster-Kinekor attempts to revolutionise the game, is that the gulf between Hollywood and Bollywood is not as big as some might want to believe.
IS Zimbabwe ready for Bollywood? Well, that appears to be the million-dollar question that Ster-Kinekor will attempt to answer this week.
Days after the première of the hugely popular blockbuster “Batman v Superman”, Ster-Kinekor Sam Levy’s Village in Harare will on Thursday launch the inaugural edition of what will now be termed “Bollywood Nights.”
The launch, which is expected to be an experiment as the institution tries to diversify its viewing, will be headlined by the screening of an Indian romantic-comedy “Ki & Ka”. I will have to admit that when the news of this launch and direction the company has opted to go with first reached me, I was a little perturbed.
Firstly, while the move is a noble idea, coming after too many of my colleagues have long pushed me towards Bollywood and Nollywood, I believe Ster-Kinekor’s timing is a little off.
This is the same week that the massively anticipated “Batman v Superman” is released, and from a purely monetary point of view, business should be booming.
However, if they go on with this launch, which they are, they risk the possibility of the launch acting not only as a counter attraction but also playing second fiddle to more famous Hollywood project.
The results might not necessarily be a true reflection of what could have been; but hey that is just my opinion.
Also, this is “Batman v Superman” going head-to-head with a relatively unknown entity in “Ki & Ka.”
While I am not entirely convinced of the merits of this launch, Bollywood as a whole and the supposed threats it poses to Hollywood, I am prepared to approach the subject with an open mind.
Among the few things to bear in mind as Ster-Kinekor attempts to revolutionise the game, is that the gulf between Hollywood and Bollywood is not as big as some might want to believe. For instance, solely based on sales alone, Bollywood makes more and sells more than four billion tickets a year; which in essence is like twice the number of your typical Hollywood blockbusters.
Yes there are exceptions here and there, Marvel and DC Comics to be specific, but the numbers hardly do much to dent Bollywood’s numerical advantage.
So much has been said about the gulf between the two entities in recent years, but the fact that Hollywood has actively tried to double their marketing strategies and penetrate, or at the very least neutralise the Asian market, means that even the billion dollar Hollywood companies have seen the strides made by their counterparts.
The average production cost of a typical Bollywood is roughly $21 million and this makes their profit margin pretty huge and more importantly better than Hollywood.
Due to the sheer size of the continent and population, recent statistics have shown that the Asian market eclipses the US and Canada combined.
According to recent figures that were released by the Motion Picture Association of America last year, the box office in the biggest Asian markets — namely China, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia — totalled $10,5 billion in 2014, just ahead of the $10,4 billion achieved in the US and Canada.
The most important factor in this Hollywood and Bollywood fight, and one I believe is also the driving factor behind Ster-Kinekor’s move, is that the Asian community has for many years been marginalised.
This is despite the rich tradition, culture and numbers that characterise the industry in the continent.
For an outsider, the dialogue, music and dance are but a spectacle, one big enough to be marvelled at, but to the people of the Asian continent it best demonstrates the country and continent’s rich history.
Ster-Kinekor business controller Dexter Nyikayaramba best summed it up saying: “Bollywood Nights will be all about celebrating the Indian culture, which is our best demographic when it comes to audiences. Viewers are expected to put on their best Indian attires and come dance and be merry as they watch this promising romantic comedy.”
I have not had the pleasure of watching the movie, but “Ki & Ka” (which loosely translates to Hers and His) is an Indian romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, and produced by R Balki.
It follows a young, married couple whose relationship challenges the gender roles placed upon women and men in Indian society, and stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor.
