Swades heads for videsh

What is being touted as Shah Rukh Khan's best performance as an actor ever, will be seen on the global screens on December 17. Swades, directed by Oscar nominee Ashutosh Gowariker, is about a man's inner conflict, between a comfortable lifestyle and belief in an ideal.

UTV is distributing the film and its international distribution general manager Ashoka Holla says that "hopefully, the film will be released in Germany and France simultaneously with its release in India".

To be sure, Holla has been working very hard to ensure a global release for the film. In all, the target is a 275-print release in the international market, the largest ever by a Hindi feature film.

For the last three months Holla has been touring the European Union armed with a shorter version of the film that's been cut by about 30 minutes (the original lasts for over three hours) for the overseas audience.

Interestingly, he's managed to sell Swades even in Poland where Bollywood films have yet to make a mark.

"Generally, when a film does well, say, like in the case of Devdas, the international distributors sell it to territories on the basis of its success," says Holla.

UTV, however, decided to pre-sell the film. While the average minimum guarantee (upfront money paid by film buyers) for the Shah Rukh Khan starrer (inclusive of terrestrial and DVD rights) is not being disclosed, the revenue share for the film once the minimum guarantee has been recovered is set at 50:50.

"Made on a budget of Rs 22 crore (Rs 220 million), I expect the film to give us at least 175 per cent return on investment," says UTV chairman, Ronnie Screwvala.

And yes, he confirms media reports that say the film is very much in the black almost a month before its release. It is expected to do well on the DVD circuit too.

Film industry experts point out that if 20,000 French-subtitled DVDs of Lagaan could be sold without any pre-sell, UTV is likely to reap a richer harvest from subtitled DVDs in the German, French and other languages.

Some of this business has come from Netflix (in North America) which is said to be the world's largest online DVD movie rental service with more than 2 million listed members.

Netflix has placed an advance order for 5,000 DVDs for Swades and an order for 1,000 DVDs each for Lakshya and Phir Milenge. A long-term deal between Netflix and UTV Motion Pictures will give the former access to all UTV titles in North America.

The company is upbeat about the film's success in the global market as it is said to have a universal theme. "Shah Rukh is not as big a star as the Hollywood guys in Europe," says Holla.

So the buyers are not judging the film on the basis of his name, but for its content, he adds. UTV expects the SRK starrer (along with model-turned-actor Gayatri Iyer) to break all records in the international market, on the back of its distribution power.

UTV's strategy has helped the company identify new buyers and newer markets where it has sold the film, often, "for a song" to check its response.

UTV's forthcoming films that will be marketed on similar lines are Vishal Bharadwaj's take on Ruskin Bond's Blue Umbrella and Ram Gopal Varma's D, the prequel to his earlier Company.