How/Why are US theaters playing Bollywood movies?

[Snak3eye5]

I travel a lot in the US for work and watch a lot of movies. I often wanted to know how do US theaters have slots for Bollywood movies and not just Hindi, but other indian movies like tamil, telegu and even malayalam. I would assume that US theaters need to see a profit to even play international movies and would charge a huge fee for playing it. And the slots where they play Indian movies would be taking a spot of some other big budget Hollywood movie. So what are the logistics in playing Indian movies in US theaters. Who's bringing them to the US ? Is it the Indian producers themselves or do they have some association with US producers in the US like fox, mgm, disney etc..I rarely see movies from other countries like Iran or Korea. Surely places like Iran i know make better quality movies, but don't see them being played in US theaters.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Modi and Trump partnership.

 

[Syed1]

Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that there are millions of Indians (and Pakistanis) in the US who are a big enough market for such movies. There are a couple cinemas in Mississauga that play even popular Pakistani movies too.

 

[SandyB]

I don't know about Bollywood films, but there is a Sizeable population of high earning(Doctors, engineers, H1B's) South Indians in US. Especially the Telugu and Tamil language speakers.

These two states are well known for their obsession with cinema and movie stars, so you often hear about huge openings for Tamil and Telugu movies in US. A lot of these people buy tickets at heavily inflated prices since the movies don't actually run for more than a few weeks.

Even the Keralites, who are generally stingy when it comes to cinema, are more open to go to theaters to watch cinema these days. Given that most cinemas charge around 15-20 $ the least for tickets, I guess the initial rush of a week is good enough for most US distributors.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Expats obviously. Bollywood movies usually get a slot in the UK theatres as well. In areas where there are a lot of desis, you will get a Bollywood movie playing one night a week or more depending on the local population mix.

You will find very few of the whites or other ethnics going to view Bollywood films, they just don't relate to them. Neither do I for that matter, unless it's an unusually good one.

 

[TM Riddle]

Expats obviously. Bollywood movies usually get a slot in the UK theatres as well. In areas where there are a lot of desis, you will get a Bollywood movie playing one night a week or more depending on the local population mix.

You will find very few of the whites or other ethnics going to view Bollywood films, they just don't relate to them. Neither do I for that matter, unless it's an unusually good one.

You need to watch Sholay.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

You need to watch Sholay.

Saw that when I was a kid. Obviously a classic, even now that is still probably a very watchable film.

 

[TM Riddle]

[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] how many times have you watched DDLJ?

 

[kukkad kamaal]

Saw that when I was a kid. Obviously a classic, even now that is still probably a very watchable film.

Try kahaani

 

[SandyB]

Expats obviously. Bollywood movies usually get a slot in the UK theatres as well. In areas where there are a lot of desis, you will get a Bollywood movie playing one night a week or more depending on the local population mix.

See, Unlike the UK , which is Bollywood dominated mainly due to the Indian & Pakistani Population. But the US has a huge population of Southern movie Audiences and it is the same case in Australia as well. So I think the distributors see them as separate entities from Bollywood.

 

[SandyB]

Try kahaani

No man, SHOLAY is SHOLAY.. Nothing matches up to that . There may be better films, better acted films, better made films, better scripted films, but Sholay has a special place .

Even DDLJ (more popular among the present generation) is too much of a 'genre' film. Its one among many similar films from that era (all those SRK, Aamir, Salman romantic films, all big hits ).

But Sholay was clearly miles ahead of anything that had come till that point, both in terms of the story, treatment of the characters and also the scale and technical aspects (70mm Film) .

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

See, Unlike the UK , which is Bollywood dominated mainly due to the Indian & Pakistani Population. But the US has a huge population of Southern movie Audiences and it is the same case in Australia as well. So I think the distributors see them as separate entities from Bollywood.

What is a southern movie audience? Do you mean south Indian or South American?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

No man, SHOLAY is SHOLAY.. Nothing matches up to that . There may be better films, better acted films, better made films, better scripted films, but Sholay has a special place .

Even DDLJ (more popular among the present generation) is too much of a 'genre' film. Its one among many similar films from that era (all those SRK, Aamir, Salman romantic films, all big hits ).

But Sholay was clearly miles ahead of anything that had come till that point, both in terms of the story, treatment of the characters and also the scale and technical aspects (70mm Film) .

Oddly enough I have seen DDLJ, the wife watches Bollywood films and if there's a rare one which makes a name for itself I'll watch it. Despite my constant battles with PP's cross border admin, I'm an open minded fellow. I enjoyed it despite it's usual overdoing on the dramaworks.

Sholay I'll always like because not only was Amitabh playing the only role he was made for, he was counterbalanced brilliantly by Dharmendra who I don't think I've ever seen in any other film worth watching. Great memories.

 

[kukkad kamaal]

Oddly enough I have seen DDLJ, the wife watches Bollywood films and if there's a rare one which makes a name for itself I'll watch it. Despite my constant battles with PP's cross border admin, I'm an open minded fellow. I enjoyed it despite it's usual overdoing on the dramaworks.

Sholay I'll always like because not only was Amitabh playing the only role he was made for, he was counterbalanced brilliantly by Dharmendra who I don't think I've ever seen in any other film worth watching. Great memories.

DDLJ is overrated

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] how many times have you watched DDLJ?

5 times a day since 1995

 

[sshakir411]

only AMC does and that too in select cities...they also play other foreign movies.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

DDLJ is overrated

Not by me, I wasn't expecting a great film so it didn't have to be that good to meet the standard.

 

[bleaf27]

Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that there are millions of Indians (and Pakistanis) in the US who are a big enough market for such movies. There are a couple cinemas in Mississauga that play even popular Pakistani movies too.

Well Toronto -GTA has been playing bollywood movies for decades now. I remember watching the first Munnabhai way way back

 

[JaDed]

Oddly enough I have seen DDLJ, the wife watches Bollywood films and if there's a rare one which makes a name for itself I'll watch it. Despite my constant battles with PP's cross border admin, I'm an open minded fellow. I enjoyed it despite it's usual overdoing on the dramaworks.

Sholay I'll always like because not only was Amitabh playing the only role he was made for, he was counterbalanced brilliantly by Dharmendra who I don't think I've ever seen in any other film worth watching. Great memories.

Probably the best star bollywood has ever had,your bias against Indian Punjabis is what is making you say that but nevertheless.
I still watch his old movies Satyakam,Chupke Chupke and Sholay was literally Mera Gaon Mera Desh old wine in new bottle but nevertheless very well directed.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

5 times a day since 1995

You know what happens when you watch DDLJ 5 times a day?

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Oddly enough I have seen DDLJ, the wife watches Bollywood films and if there's a rare one which makes a name for itself I'll watch it. Despite my constant battles with PP's cross border admin, I'm an open minded fellow. I enjoyed it despite it's usual overdoing on the dramaworks.

Sholay I'll always like because not only was Amitabh playing the only role he was made for, he was counterbalanced brilliantly by Dharmendra who I don't think I've ever seen in any other film worth watching. Great memories.

Amitabh was first approached to play the role of Gabbar.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Amitabh was first approached to play the role of Gabbar.

Garbage post. Danny denzongpa was approached for the role of Gabbar. Amitabh was only cast as Jai.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Garbage post. Danny denzongpa was approached for the role of Gabbar. Amitabh was only cast as Jai.

Calm down. I got confused with Amitabh's 'I wanted to play the role of gabbar' statement.

 

[PakLFC]

India are very good at PR. We must accept that.

 

[Napa]

Who's bringing them to the US ? Is it the Indian producers themselves or do they have some association with US producers in the US like fox, mgm, disney etc..I rarely see movies from other countries like Iran or Korea. Surely places like Iran i know make better quality movies, but don't see them being played in US theaters.

The first thing you need to understand is that there are "art" films and there are "commercial" films. While Iran may have good "art" films, I doubt its "commercial" films industry is well developed like Bollywood and other Indian language commercial films. The films you will see in US theaters will be "commercial" films unless you happen to go to a niche "art" film theater like Angelica in Manhattan.

The Indian "commercial" film industry is very well developed and is popular not only in the US, but more so in the mid-East, Eastern Europe, Africa etc. It is the only worldwide competitor to Hollywood and the only one which other than Hollywood that consistently produces $100+ million grossing movies. To compare Iranian "art" movies to Indian "commercial" movies shows a lack of understanding of the movie business. India also have a large "art" film segment (remember Satyajit Ray?), but it doesn't get much exposure the the public abroad.

 

[SandyB]

What is a southern movie audience? Do you mean south Indian or South American?

I mean the South Indian movie audience.. unlike Bollywood which has a pan India market and is watched by non-hindi speakers as well, the southern movies don't have much of audience outside of their native speakers . So you won't see southern movies playing at overseas theatres unless the particular country has a significant population of South Indian expats.. eg: US, Australia, Malaysia etc . These films won't appeal to the Hindi speaking expats much (unless it's a crossover fare like Bahubali or Robot,) .

 

[TQ89]

Indians are everywhere in the world. In Bahrain & Dubai, also indian movies are being run on theaters. In malaysia & other east asian countries, there are lot of tamil immigrants which make them a good market for south indian movies.

In african countries like south africa, mauritius & kenya you will find many indians. Same goes for UK, US, Canada & Australia. That is why those movies earn there because indians are almost existent everywhere in the globe. Do check Karan johars box office or Akshay kumars Box office earnings abroad. It will give you a good idea why they make profits even on high budget films.

 

[TQ89]

Yeah but how many iranis have you met or seen across the globe. How many people that speak persian outside iran.

Same case with korea. I myself love their movies but how many koreans are outside south korea & how many people globally speak their language. You have to give that advantage to bollywood

 

[SandyB]

The thing is that us Desis hold on to memories of our homeland and the "soil of our birth" very dearly . Especially NRIs, 1st generation immigrants or their children (who are still rooted in their Parent country's culture).

I come from a family where many are either migrants to US or expats in the Middle east. Even though most of them left India/SC in search of a better life and better opportunities, they hold the memories of "home" very closely . I've noticed that , the same people who used to talk of life in India with disdain and complained about the poor quality here, by the time they're into their 60's are starting to come visit us more often. They are trying to reconnect with their relatives, culture, language etc much more and most of them express a desire to some day "return & die in the land where they were born ".

These Indian films are a great way for such people to keep in touch with their motherland and keep their memories refreshed . They act as a link .

Bollywood for many years has focused far too much on stories of the NRI desis and the super rich modernised "elite", which is why bollywood movies do great business in the UK where these people are aplenty . But that is also the reason why Bollywood is losing ground amongst the rural multitudes of India. This is clearly seen in the fact that poorly dubbed versions of south Masala films are dominating the hindi movie channels apart from the prime-time slots and rustic 80's type masala films like "Dabangg" did great business here .

Whereas the southern films (tamil, telugu etc, even malayalam) still focus on stories based around villages, rustic local heroes, the common mans dreams, regional politics etc , and are far more connected to the life back home. They also do a lot of period films which look into the past of Indian cultures.

This attracts people to droves to watch such films and pay all those exorbitant(by Indian standards) ticket prices. It is a way of keeping the connection alive.

This is especially true in the middle east where the expats are mostly semi skilled labourers or middle income workers , who can barely afford to come home every 1 or 2 years even. For them these movies are a practical and less expensive option getting a taste of "Home" !

 

[R0H1T]

So after all that was said & done, can anyone tell us why did Katapa kill Bahubali

 

[TM Riddle]

So after all that was said & done, can anyone tell us why did Katapa kill Bahubali

Apparently Bahubali was a deshdrohi

 

[Buffet]

Because they make money.

 

[confused_amoeba]

They make money. I've been to a few here in US, pretty much packed house all the times. Kind of exciting to watch the singing/dancing numbers on the big screen I must say.

 

[Specialisttailender]

so after all that was said & done, can anyone tell us why did katapa kill bahubali

no spoilers !!!

 

[Gotham Cronie]

Supply and demand

 

[Specialisttailender]

They used to run 1950s WW2 based movies in Indian villages as late as late 60s and early 70s. Why is it surprising that Indian movies are running in countries where there are large Indian population ?