By Shail Kumar Singh (AFP)
MUMBAI — A new Bollywood film co-starring a Mexican actress has
raised hopes that Indian cinema can make inroads into the
Spanish-speaking market, after boosting its profile elsewhere in
the world.
Leading lady Barbara Mori appears with heartthrob actor Hrithik
Roshan in "Kites," a romantic drama about a fugitive left for dead
in the Mexican desert, who meets the love of his life and goes on
the run across the United States.
Roshan's father, Rakesh, who produced the movie, said: "There are a
lot of inquiries from the Spanish-speaking market and we would love
to release 'Kites' in as many countries as possible.
"The world has become small due to globalisation and today films
from South Korea and other Asian countries do make an impact in
mainstream Hollywood and other markets.
"But unfortunately Indian films have not been able to do that. I
want to show the world that Indian films can make an impact
too."
The overseas success of this year's Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster "My
Name Is Khan" has left Hindi-language filmmakers eager to tap into
overseas markets with similar "crossover" films.
"My Name Is Khan" took 39 million dollars worldwide in the month
after its release in February, including 17 million dollars outside
India.
Its distributors, Fox Star Studios, hailed it as "Bollywood's first
truly global film".
That came after the 2009 Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire," which
although British-made, boosted worldwide interest in using Indian
film industry talent.
The overseas market makes up seven percent of overall revenues in
India's 89.3-billion-rupee (1.9-billion-dollar) film industry, with
foreign audiences prized because of the higher cost of cinema
tickets compared with those in India.
The United States, Canada, Britain and Europe account for up to
two-thirds of foreign income, according to a recent KPMG report on
India's media and entertainment industry.
Central and South America did not figure in the breakdown.
"Kites" director Anurag Basu told reporters recently that Indian
cinema -- which has a fanatical following at home -- should have a
higher profile abroad.
"I feel very sad that the world knows only filmmakers like
(US-based) Mira Nair ("Salaam Bombay!", "Monsoon Wedding") and
(Canada-based) Deepa Mehta (Elements trilogy)," he said.
"They don?t know about Indian films and I feel "Kites" will be that
film that will appeal to masses of Western and Spanish-speaking
countries," he added, calling it "a truly global Indian film" for
mainstream consumption.
One way Basu is hoping for box office success is by releasing a
longer Hindi-language version and a shorter, apparently steamier,
one in English.
Mori, a 32-year-old model and actress who has starred in television
soap operas and a number of Spanish-language films, is one of a
number of foreign female stars to take a leading role in a
Bollywood movie.
On a recent promotional tour in India's entertainment capital,
Mumbai, she said the film, in which she speaks Spanish, had a
universal appeal.
"Our attempt with this film was to make an emotional appealing love
story though the two protagonists don?t know each other's
language," she said.
"The emotions appeal to human beings all over the world and
therefore I felt this film can work on an international scale
before going ahead with the project."
"Kites," which is out on May 21, is 36-year-old Hrithik Roshan's
return to the big screen after last starring in "Jodhaa Akbar" in
2008, a love story about the Mughal emperor Akbar and his Hindu
wife, Jodhaa.