the new home theatres

India lives cinema, eats cinema and sleeps cinema. Bollywood has been an essential part of every Indian’s life. Love it or hate it but you cant ignore it. And imagine if cinema and television get clubbed together, they are bound to create waves.

This is what is happening in Indian television.  There was a time when television was called the poor cousin of the big screen. But today the fortunes seem to have reversed. The poor cousin has become an added source of income for the big Bollywood films. In some cases it becomes the only source of income (owing to their poor box office collection).

Of late there have been some changes in the programming strategies of a GEC. This change has become possible because the big film production houses have been a part of it. There was a time when a film was telecast on the GEC or for that matter even a movie channel only a year or more after its release. But its no more the case. Blue was telecast almost within first 8 weeks of its release. Even the last year’s hit Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani was telecast within first four months of its release. This is not all. This has become a trend on indian television. Almost every second film released today is selling their satellite rights even before the release of their movie.

And to be frank it has been a win win situation for all three parties – the producers, the channel as well the audience. Now lets see how.  For the producers, television viewing rights helps them to recover their money. For instance, Blue bombed badly. The box office collections were dismal despite the hype built around it. Therefore in that case selling of the television right to Colors helped them to make up for their loss though only partly. Same can be the case with Action Repplay and Aisha.

For movies like APKGK, Peepli[live] and Dabbang, the case is a bit different.  These movies have been a hit at the box office. They have enough hype already generated around them. Therefore they are able to sell the satellite rights for a real good amount and they are able to add to their balance sheet.

For the channels its again a gain all situation. Of late the Bollywood hits have been scoring big time on the TRP charts. Both 3 Idiots and Dabbang were the highest rated program in their respective week of telecast. These Bollywood movies help to grab the eyeballs and help to increase the Gross Rating Points of the channel.

Also the channels leave no stone unturned to market the film using all possible medium to reach the target audience. Therefore the high cost to acquire the movie as well as to market them is the only reason why the net return on investment becomes low. But seeing the high trps its justifiable for channels to invest in big Bollywood movies once in a while.

After all television is the (POOR) cousin of the big screen....!!!