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iView Author: Ankur Jain (Ahmedabad, India)

Email: ankur.jain@fulmarxx.net

Bollywood Bombed?

Ten ultras programmed to kill, totting AK 47 sneaked in to India’s Taj, its commercial capitial, and forced the country with 110-crore-people into deep dread, gunning down unsuspecting victims, and causing a loss of more than Rs 50,000 crore.
The city that which churns out reel drama round the clock, for three days straight, witnessed the most horrendous real drama of terror in the history. The scars, which with a few resignations, public anger and candles lit in memory of innocent lives lost, will not be healed. But the big question is that ‘will the heart of Bollywood, beat with the same pace or this time as the recession threat looms large the wounds are deep enough to recover.

“Both, Sorry Bhai & Oye Lucky Oye Lucky, released last Friday despite being good films have fallen far from expected on box-office collections, due to the mood that the countrymen were after the terrorist attacks. Also drawing concern is that fact foreign production houses, which had plans to shot in Mumbai and around will now start thinking twice,” said Rajeev Masand, CNN-IBN entertainment editor.

The Mumbai mayhem has surely come at a time when Bollywood was in Hollywood’s business script. Only recently, industrialist Anil Ambani recently invested $550 million to back Steven Spielberg’s new studio. Also when the media sentiment was expected to be slow for the next year, now the spokesperson from international media houses with Indian interest are quoted at various places saying that they have been keeping themselves in wait-watch situation, before parking their money in the terror-hit market. Making one wonder if last week’s attack will do more than putting travel industry on back burner. As The Foreign Office in London has already updated its advice to warn Britons against all travel to Mumbai, which may downsize the number of foreign tourist in the city.

But will the Indians, who are learning to work under terror threats and are known for their fighting back spirit, will surpass through the latest challenge. Important will be to see the cash flows in the country, which will in some way decide the entertainment business in the coming months, say industry experts. The country in 2007 saw a record $98 billion in capital inflow. Also, the first half of 2008, inflows were healthy but have slowed in recent months due to the global economic gloom.
The industry experts have forecast a drop in Indian advertising revenue growth to 12.1% in 2009, down from an increase of 17.6% this year and 22.1% in 2007. This means that the ad pie in highly competitive TV and print markets will not be as infinite as may have hoped for, this when the rising costs to produce and distribute TV content is adding pressure.
But director Onir, whose film ‘Sorry Bhai’ was one of the many victims of terror attacks feels that terrorism might have cast a shadow over Bollywood, but it’s momentary and as the smoke clears, things will start rolling again.

“We all are mourning deaths of the terror victims and the mood is not that leads us to cinema halls. Also due to fear people are avoiding visit to public places, but as the lives comes back on track it will be business as usual. The only change this time might be that people will let go politicians and authorities without taking adequate measures for their safety,” said Onir.

(The author is a former journalist and presently Chief Operating Officer, FulMarxx Integrated Filmed Entertainment Company)

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