Managerial Communication II Assignment

Can Bollywood go Global?

Executive Summary
The Indian film industry prides itself in being the largest film industry in
the world. The number of films made in Bollywood in a year far exceeds
than that in other parts of the world. But despite the fact that Indias
share in number of films has been close to 20% of the global releases,
they fall way behind when compared in terms of revenues generated. The
two prime reasons attributed for the cause are low ticket prices and
rampant piracy. But, these are not the only concerns for the Indian film
Industry. The shortfall in revenues experienced by Bollywood is also
attributed to low global acceptance of the films in overseas territories.
A lot of efforts have been made since 1950s, during the golden age of
Indian Cinema, wherein works of Satyajit Ray broke free from the
mainstream world to create a genre of films that were recognized as
Indian parallel cinema. Bollywood stars like Raj Kapoor and Amitabh
bachhan have been able to gain massive popularity globally. With 1991
liberalization, Indian industry has been exposed to variety of global
influencers like foreign consumer brands and invention of new media
technologies. The Indian dispora community, estimated at over 20 million
people, have been the major viewers for the films outside the country as
the films serve as a key cultural links for them.
Changing contents of films, avenues for International Financing and star
power have been the major drivers for globalization. But despite all the
efforts and influencers, Bollywood has not been able to create a visible
impact in the global film industry, more so outside the South Asian Region.
An average overseas collection for a Bollywood film is as low as 6.9% of
the overall collections. The global prospects of Bollywood is critiqued on
account of content of the Bollywood movies, despite the improvement in
technical quality over previous decades. With Hollywood playing a
homogenizer role in world entertainment industry, Bollywood seems to be
fighting a losing battle against Hollywood.

Submitted by:
Divanshu Saxena
Reg. No. 0131/52
Section B
Due Date 18-12-2015

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Statement of the problem

The problem really at hand is about the prospects of Bollywood gaining
global acceptance and recognition, similar in line with Hollywood or not.
How can Bollywood go global? How the Indian Film industry can make
a visible impact in the foreign territories outside South Asia, and gain
acceptance within the global culture? What could be done to ensure that
the Bollywood films generate substantial revenues from overseas
territories outside south Asian region?
The Indian film industry is larger in size than all the other foreign
counterparts with a global share of about 20 % of the total number of
releases in a year. Despite such high numbers, the total revenues
generated are very low. And one major factor causing low revenues is low
global acceptance for the films abroad. The overseas collection for
average Bollywood movie ranges in between 6% - 9%, with a majority of
the chunk coming from the Indian diaspora community.
A major reason for such divergence lie in the fact that Art represents the
culture of a society. And with Indian culture substantially different from the
global culture, it fails to gain acceptance within the foreign masses. A live
example of the argument can be understood from the global impact of
Hollywood in India. More Indian youth speaking English over their mother
tongues and perceived coolness of Western culture have resulted in
declining popularity of culturally charged Indian films. This allows
Hollywood to gain 10% of the Indian Box office revenues, a feat which
cannot be matched by Bollywood in other countries.
The Bollywood film makers concentrate on mass market films which gain
acceptance among larger masses in India, with typical Masala or Multiplex
films. Not only are these films preferred by the producers on account of
acceptance from the masses, but also due to the fact that they bring huge
revenues for them. Sole focus on revenues sometimes displaces the
attention on the critically acclaimed films, which have the potential to be
accepted in the Global arena as well.
In the short run, the real problem is about how to produce films that gain
wider acceptance among the masses. Over the long run, the problems
associated with structure of industry should be addressed in order to solve
the issue at hand.
Alternative Solutions
In order to solve the issue at hand, we need to look at multiple options
that could be explored both in long run as well as in the short run.

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Increasing production of crossover films: Crossover films have been

very successful in the past, providing positive reinforcement to the Indian
film industry on the potential success of Indian based content in an
international market. Such crossover films are able to gross appreciable
collections in International markets and are based on themes that the
international audience can easily relate to. With larger production of such
crossover films addressing transnational audiences, Bollywood can create
a visible impact in the global entertainment industry.
International Avenues for Financing: Such international financial
avenues could be extended to build long term partnership with foreign
production houses and distributors to improve wider availability of the
Bollywood across the globe. With increased participation and aids,
Bollywood could be seen reaching places where it has not been yet. Also
such partnerships could be used to create a long term relations with
artists and members across the film industries.
Altering structure of Industry: The need of the hour is to create a
governing body, solely responsible for all matters related to the film
industry in India. With issues of piracy and undue powers with censor
boards gaining importance, it is important to have a one point contact
wherein all issues associated with films could be resolved, providing
respite for producers and distributors. Prevention of loss of revenues could
also incline producers to move ahead from just mass popularity films, and
move more towards content generated films.
Criteria of Judgement
Several criteria needs to be stated in order to understand the relative
impact of possible solutions and make a judgement accordingly. A solution
to solve such a problem should be one which could lead Bollywood in
global arena, increasing the acceptance in the global Film Industry. This
could be measured by improvements in the global share in revenues
for the Bollywood films since share in revenues are representative of the
acceptance of the films among the audience.
Another aspect that needs to be evaluated upon is the relative impact on
the domestic film industry in India. With an aim of improving global
presence of Bollywood, a solution would be acceptable only when it
creates a minimal negative impact among domestic audiences.
Evaluation of Alternatives
The alternative options need to be evaluated upon set criteria to
understand their pros and cons.
With success achieved in the past, crossover films have the brightest
chances of improving the global share in revenues for the Bollywood films.
Themes which are easily relatable could create a huge impact for
Bollywood in the global film industry. But the solution possess huge threat
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for the domestic viewership as they have not been commercially

successful in the country. Some of these films have even not been able to
cover their cost of production domestically.
Building long term partnerships with foreign counterparts could result in a
better acceptance for Bollywood movies, since association between
Bollywood and Hollywood resources could create more buzz for a movie,
resulting in higher viewership and revenues. A minimal negative impact
could also be anticipated among the domestic audiences with such a
solution. Such a solution would be successful only if meaningful values
can be generated for the foreign partners in the engagement as well. This
has been the reason why several partnerships in the past have not been
quite successful in the past.
Altering industry structure is a long term solution for the problem, which
could indirectly promote producers and distributors to make films which
are not monotonous and give them a chance to experiment with different
genres and blends. Ultimately this could contribute towards increasing
global revenues in the long run without harmful impacts in the domestic
viewership. But implementation of such a solution is very complex, which
requires lot of regulatory issues and requirement of enactment of separate
legislation for the same.
Recommendation and action plan
Having evaluated alternative options on the criteria of judgement, it is
recommended that a detailed plan of action is required with both short
term and long term perspective to take Bollywood global.
In the short run, it is recommended that long term partnerships should be
built through International avenues of finances. This would could increase
the buzz for a Bollywood film both domestically and internationally,
bringing attention to a wider mass of audience. With quality of films,
scripts, artists assured by the partnership agreements, it can create a
value for the foreign player as well. Over a long term, it is essential to
bring the Bollywood industry under a purview of a single authority which
governs all its regulations and issues, providing a one point solution for all
the stakeholders.
Step for solving the issue at hand:
1. Engage in foreign partnership agreements for sharing of resources,
production/ distribution teams, artists and technologies for
increasing movie quality and buzz.
2. Ensure proper fulfilment of the agreements by incorporating values
for both the parties involved in the engagements.
3. Use partnerships to increase foreign distribution of Bollywood
movies across the globe
4. Create an environment for acceptance of different genres of movies
within India and promote crossover films. Films with different genres
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and critical acclamation should be promoted by making them tax

free.
5. The stakeholders should collectively push the government for
building a separate regulatory body for Film industry in order to
protect their ways from unjustified censorship and piracy.

Citations
1. The Hindu (2015). A new Game in Films. Retreived from :
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/kabir-bedi-on-bollywood/
article7993359.ece
2. Gupta, Prithu (2013). Crossover Films: Bridging The Divide.
Retrieved from: http://www.fridaybrands.com/crossover-filmsbridging-the-divide/
3. Prasad, Arrayanna (2015). A Tale of Two cultures: Bollywood vs.
Hollywood. Retrieved from: http://www.india.com/arts-and-culture/atale-of-two-cultures-bollywood-vs-hollywood-524125/

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