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Angels sets a record in India!
Sita Menon in Mumbai |
July 01, 2003 16:08 IST
Last year, Spider-Man came to India within three weeks of its release in the US. At the time, it was the closest Indian audiences could watch a Hollywood film to its US release. Now, Columbia Tristar has gone a step further. Its India wing will release Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, July 4, just a week after its release in the US.
"This is a record precedent," says Vikramjit Roy, head, PR & acquisitions, Columbia Tristar. Columbia Tristar India has been long planning to have what is called a day-dated release (simultaneous release) of a Hollywood film in the US and India, he said. This was not possible earlier. Now, the information & broadcasting ministry has done away with what Roy calls the 'Variety check.' "Previously, we had to submit the [trade magazine] Variety review of a Hollywood film to the Censor Board," he explains.
"The Censor Board would then allow one print of the film to be imported here. There would then be a screening, based on which the Censor Board would issue a censor certificate. Only when the certificate was in, would we be allowed to import prints in bulk for a theatrical release in India," adds Roy. "This process meant a generation gap of at least three to four weeks, if not more. Spider-Man released in India after the I&B ministry did away with this check. We realised that if we worked well in advance, we could lessen the gap further."
The makers of Charlie's Angels were more than glad to have a quick release of the film in India.
A move such as this, admits Roy, offers advantages. The publicity buzz created in the US trickles down to the Indian media. "So the charm of cashing in on the freshness factor of the film is all the more enticing for Indian audiences," he says. More important, this would also help fight piracy. With Hollywood films releasing in India weeks or months after the US release, this is ample time for bootlegged prints to flood the market, and therefore affect theatre-going numbers when the films release here.
Having a day-dated release would, to a large extent, says Roy, bring in the audiences to theatres, and help stall the damage bootlegged prints wreak.
"We were apprehensive whether we were ready to go ahead with a release so soon," admits Roy, adding, "But we had our marketing tie-ups in place -- Airtel, MTV, Seagrams and Red Bull are some of the brands associated with the film -- our theatrical promos in place. So saleswise and marketingwise, we are equipped. So why not go ahead?"
In its Hindi avatar, the film will be called Charlie's Angels - Haseenon Ka Hungama. Columbia Tristar plans to roll out the English version with more than 150 prints in over 25 Indian cities and towns, including Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, etc.
Talks are now on for quick releases for Terminator 3 and Pirates Of The Caribbean. Terminator 3 releases July 3 in the US. It is likely to be released July 25 in India.