Backed by the right policy push and new and exciting technology, entertainment promises to be a whole new experience in 2012, say Sudipta Datta & Ashish Sinha

[ Films ]

Bollywood splash

There are no rules for Bollywood this year. Taking a cue from last year?s string of hits, the Hindi film industry is treading the same path of dishing out ?something new, something different?. So if it is sequels on one hand, experiment with new themes is happening on the other. And if Bollywood is going global, Hollywood is homing in as well.

As Farhan Akhtar says, ?It was the overwhelming trend of 2011 and hopefully we will continue in the same vein in 2012,? pointing out that films of varied content and genres are doing well at the box office. ?Now a Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and a Ready both have a large following, and that?s good for the industry.?

Actor Ranbir Kapoor also relishes the fact that the boundaries are being pushed. He will be seen in two varying roles, as a hearing challenged character in Anurag Basu?s Barfee set for a July release and in Dharma Productions? Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani to be released

in October.

?Bollywood is poised for growth in the next three to five years,? says Kamal Jain, CFO, Eros Entertainment, ?because a lot of care is being taken to market and distribute the films properly, greenlight interesting content and so forth.?

All major production houses have seen success when they have pushed the envelope?Balaji Films with The Dirty Picture, UTV and Aamir Khan Productions with Delhi Belly, Excel Entertainment with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. ?This year, too, promises to be interesting because people too are thirsting for different types of cinema,? says Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures.

Bollywood is also going 3D in a big way. ?At least 10 films are going to be made in 3D in 2012,? says Eros Jain, ?we had just one film in 2011 Vikram Bhatt?s Haunted.? With Haunted doing well at the box office, many production houses are trying their hand at 3D.

Farokh Balsara, head, media and entertainment, India, Europe, Middle East and Africa, says the industry is gradually seeing the emergence of four to five production houses which would release a slate of films. ?Much like we have Sony, Warner Bros and Fox, the Indian film industry is also seeing four to five houses that are developing their own distribution in India and overseas,? he adds. Both UTV?s Kapur and Eros? Jain agree that a film?s revenues are now seeing a lot of enhancement from the overseas market.

Hollywood A-listers are also making a beeline for the country in 2012. On top of the list is Will Smith, whose Men in Black 3 will be released by Sony Pictures in May. ?It?s going to be an amazing year for us,? says Kercy Daruwala, MD, Sony Pictures India. Sony will launch five franchises in 2012, including Amazing Spiderman 3, to be released on 3D in July, and the next Daniel Craig Bond film. Warner Bros also has a slate of releases, including Clint Eastwood?s J Edgar, Baz Luhrman?s The Great Gatsby and two Hobbit films.

Preview

n Films of varied content and genres

n More 3D films, screens

n Hollywood A-listers come to India

[ Radio ]

The FM boom

Are you bored listening to only Bollywood music across every private FM stations? This is going to be a thing of the past in 2012 with the launch of the third-phase expansion of private FM. The I&B ministry will auction additional and new FM stations in existing as well as new towns under the FM-III policy, which allows radio operators to own more than one FM station within a city. This was not allowed under the earlier FM radio policies. For consumers, this will mean more genres of radio content, like talk radio, stations dedicated to sports, different genres of music, plays, etc, within a city.

Overall, FM-III policy envisages setting up of over 830 FM stations across 270-plus towns. Even in metros, where radio spectrum is currently available for one or two additional stations for FM-III auctions, may be scaled up with technical modifications currently under discussion between FM operators, government and the sector regulator. If allowed, the number of FM stations possible in a metro like Delhi will go up three-four times, which means Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and other cities can have 20-40 FM stations.

For operators too, FM-III means a transparent mechanism for participating in the auctions. The government will use e-auctions for the first time in FM radio spectrum allocations. For advertisers, 2012 will mean further expansion of advertising pie of radio industry. Currently pegged at around R900-1,000 crore, under FM-III, the advertising pie may triple in less than 24 months of a bulk of FM stations becoming operational.

triple benefit

n 20-40 FM stations in metros

n More genres of radio content in a city

n Advertising pie likely to triple in less than 24 months of a bulk of FM stations becoming operational

[ Television ]

Idiot no more

Television viewing will be a much more smarter experience in 2012. Between January and June of 2012, the 12 million consumers of cable television in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore will be empowered with digital cable services, where a ‘smart’ digital box, otherwise known as a set top box (STB), will enable the TV set to become a two-way communication device. Digital cable technology will allow cable providers to compress video channels so that they take up less spectrum. As a result, the digital cable will offer various two-way communication capabilities that are not available currently.

Consumers will be empowered with a whole host of choices between high-quality premium content like high definition channels, movie library, national and regional channels, high-speed Internet, educational and informative content for children, games and interactive programming, among others. Of course, Internet telephony will be an added bonus along with the cable box to act as a recorder to store your favourite shows.

Triple-play will kick in a real sense with digitisation of cable services. This means pictures, data and voice will all be rolled into your television sets via an advanced digital STB. Radio stations from around the world will be available on your TV at the click of a button. Advertisers will have new avenues to earn money. There will be specialised channels for shopping where with a push of a button on your remote, the product details along with video content will be available at maybe no extra cost. Even 3D content via digital cable will become a reality for cable viewers. Billings and monthly subscription will move to prepaid scratch card model, along with online secure payment options that are currently not available.

With digitisation on the anvil, even consumer durable firms like Samsung, LG and Sony expect an increase in the sales of more techno television sets. Sales of LCD, LED and 3D television sets will become the focus for both companies and consumers.

Digital push

n High definition channels, movie library, national and regional channels

n High-speed Internet, educational and informative content for children, games and interactive programming

n 3D content via digital cable

n Specialised channels for shopping

[ Mobile phones ]

Smart gets smarterA slew of smart mobile phones are expected in 2012 from all leading handset brands like Nokia, Samsung, LG, HTC and Apple, among others. HTC is set to launch HTC Titan and HTC HD7.

South Korean electronics major Samsung is set to launch Samsung Galaxy S3 after the success of Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy S2. The Galaxy S3 will have advanced hardware like qual-core processor, 12 megapixel camera, 3D screen and with advance android OS version. Nokia has already announced that it will launch 12 mobile phones with Windows OS in 2012. Nokia Lumia will hit the markets this year.

LG may launch its new version of LG Prada in 2012. It was first announced in 2007. Italian fashion label Prada and LG will launch LG Prada K2, which would probably have dual core processor and 4.3 inch Nova screen, though the actual specifications are not announced yet.

With more advanced phones coming in, there will be more access of online services through the mobile phone and consumers

are likely to engage in more sophisticated activities like banking and e-commerce through their phones.

Big moves

n Newer versions of several smart phones to be out in 2012

n More access of online services through

mobile phones