A bit of the old and the new

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: sceptical”. Says filmmaker Navdeep Singh (of Manorama Six Feet Under fame): “Look, we have got access to cheap content, buying rights to world cinema is not expensive. I am not convinced about the intent of all the players in this genre.”

Then, again, the television viewership ratings haven’t been promising, though TRPs for UTV’s world cinema channel have picked up. But people who watch world cinema are not necessarily waiting for a theatrical or DVD release in India to catch up on the latest. Says Singh: “The spotlight on world cinema is a step in the right direction, but it will take time to grow a large audience and change the mindset of people.” Singh says people who have a taste for world cinema — “it’s a generational thing” — are already watching it and “you can’t really convert the converted. You have to reach out to a wider audience and even go to people in smaller towns.”

That’s what Palador is trying to do. “We are trying to bring world cinema to India in a holistic manner, says Sikhnis. “We have launched a 360 degrees education programme to create awareness of the nature of the content.” So, Palador conducts workshops at colleges, film schools and so forth. “We will also get the top directors into India when the films are released theatrically. For instance, when we screen Shine a Light, we will hold a gig to go along with the release,” adds Sikhnis. When French filmmaker and Oscar winner Claude Lelouch came to India as part of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s delegation, NDTV Lumiere got him to share his experience with film school students of Whistling Woods. “We got Claude to speak about his movies and the students loved it,” says Bhandary.

Content is king

All the players admit that content is their biggest advertisement, each one is going about it in their own steam, thus giving viewers a whole lot of variety. So, while Palador has a great classics lineup and contemporary cinema of the world’s 20-25 top directors, both NDTV Lumiere and UTV are focusing on the “latest from the festival circuit”. Says Bhandary: “We are choosing the best movies from the top festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Rome and picking up particularly those which are slated to do well at the box-office.”