With its ever increasing popularity, the Indian film industry, which is already generating more than $ 11 billion annually, is now luring foreign producers too for investment, say experts.
"The rising number of production houses in the country has led to technological advancement in the field of cinema, which attracted foreign filmmakers to invest, mostly for post production works. These producers find it cheaper to get things done in India," says Bollywood director Anand Kumar.
Many Hollywood movies are now being outsourced to the country for visual effects. The latest being The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
Major Hollywood studios like Viacom, NBC, Universal, Dream Works, besides Warner Bros., Sony and Disney have also made investments in India's entertainment sector, he adds.
Shoaib Mansoor, director of Khuda Ke Liye, the first Pakistani film released in India almost after four decades, says, "Bollywood is already an established brand and competing with such a big industry would definitely make us better."
"Pakistan is by no means far behind India in terms of talent but when it comes to the technology, Bollywood is miles ahead. Bollywood movies will bring audiences to cinemas in Pakistan and subsequently people will start investing money in filmmaking," he says.
According to a Ficci report, Indian entertainment and media industry is poised to grow at an annual rate of 18 per cent by 2011, faster than its counterparts in Brazil, Russia and China.
"The entertainment industry in India is an industry of the future. India's entertainment industry already generates more than $ 11 billion annually for the country," says Ficci Secretary General, Amit Mitra.
"The international market has certainly now started taking Bollywood seriously,' says Taran Adarsh, Bollywood trade analyst.
"Earlier there was a perception that Bollywood makes only stereotype movies and lacks in technology but the perception has changed in the last four five years," he adds.
"The reach of Indian films has also become huge due to its record release in theatres worldwide. Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar was released in 26 countries and 1,100 screens worldwide, Sony released about 600 prints of Saawariya in India and 900 more globally," says Adarsh.
Saawariya was the first film co-produced and distributed by a Hollywood studio, Sony Pictures.
Accoring to industry reports, Hollywood media giant Walt Disney Company is poised to invest Rs 13.14 billion (Rs 1,314 crore) in UTV group firms.
Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd has struck a deal of Rs.1.8 billion (Rs 180 crore) with DQ Entertainment (DQE), one of the world's leading animation and gaming production companies, to co-develop and co-produce six animation movies over the next three to four years.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram while presenting the Budget this year had described the entertainment industry as India's 'soft power' - nation's cultural asset.
"The booming industry has even motivated Non-Resident Indians to invest in films for long term profits. Bollywood is the second most popular industry after Hollywood and we are catching up fast," says Kumar.
He further adds that the new set of story ideas and filmmakers are coming to the forefront to fulfill the need of amount of work and manpower created by the inflow of foreign funds, which is good for the industry.
