‘Cricket series like the IPL really affected the movie business’

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: If Bollywood is having a dismal run at the box-office, Hollywood films too haven’t really fared well. Experts blame it on the Indian Premier League and lack of hits from big studios. But, the films from Paramount Pictures, including Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls and The Incredible Hulk, have done a decent business at the box-office. As Hollywood films find an avid audience in India, production houses like Paramount Pictures are cashing in on the burgeoning Indian market. Sarabjit Singh, general manager, Paramount Films of India, explains Hollywood’s fascination for India to Sagorika Dasgupta. Excerpts:

Do you attribute the success of Hollywood films in India this year to the poor show of Bollywood?

You cannot say that this year has been really great for Hollywood either. If you were to look at the big picture, Hollywood has not really done better than Bollywood. There weren’t that many hits in Hollywood except the films from our studios that did well this year.

Cricket series like Indian Premier League (IPL) really affected the movie business as most of the film releases were pushed back or reshuffled to accommodate a better opening for films. Year 2008 has not been a great year for the entire movie industry on the whole.

How has the year been for Paramount Pictures?

We are quite happy about the success of our films this year, both internationally as well as in India. Iron Man cost about Rs 60 crore to make and about an additional sum of Rs 30 crore to market. We circulated 269 prints in India for Iron Man and the collections of the film were Rs 13.6 crore. For Indiana Jones, 280 prints were circulated and the collections received were about Rs 10.8 crore in India.

What is the potential of Hollywood film market in India?

Bollywood is definitely more preferred to Hollywood in India. However, over the last five years, all the Hollywood films put together have seen a growth of around 18% to 20% in revenue. There has also been an overall growth of 12% to 15% in theatrical revenue also.

This entire growth pattern can be attributed to the mushrooming of multiplexes in various cities, better content generation by the film industry and a rise in the ticket prices for a film.

What are the main aspects that are hindering the growth of Hollywood films in the country?