By Rajjat A. Barjatya
Managing Director & CEO, Rajshri Entertainment Private Limited
Something’s happening to the Indian entertainment business. It’s something that has never happened before. It’s something that will change the business forever. It’s going global! For decades, film producers have been used to producing Hindi and regional language films for a large domestic audience. Then came Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1994 and 1995 respectively, and gave a new lease of life to the film industry by opening up a large diaspora audience.
Since then, the Indian film industry has scaled up significantly on the back of multiplexes in India and a growing diaspora market, among many others. The music industry, followed suit, with formats changing and physical sales making way for digital downloads and streaming. But all of this was still restricted to the domestic and diaspora audience. This is about to change and how!
The Internet, which is increasingly being used for entertainment, social networking and commerce, will soon be the primary distribution and consumption platform for entertainment content worldwide. The youth is flocking to this medium with a vengeance. The Internet empowers YOU, the viewer, like no other medium has in the past. It puts you at the epicenter of your entertainment experience and allows you to consume your favourite content from across the world anytime, anywhere and on any digitally connected device.
Now as an industry, let’s ask ourselves a question. When we have an opportunity like this in front of us, when we have platforms like YouTube and iTunes that can take content from anywhere in the world to a global audience, are we producing content that is relevant for that audience? Why can’t a film from India gross $1 billion at the global box office? Why can’t a song and artiste from India be #1 on the iTunes worldwide chart? Why can’t an Indian chef, yoga guru, make-up artiste, stand-up comedian or v-blogger be as big as anyone else in the world? It can and it will.
My team and I have made a small beginning in this direction with the launch of Indono Daidokoro, our Japanese language channel for Indian food on YouTube. It teaches Indian recipes to a Japanese audience in their language. We are also investing significantly in world class kids animation content, yoga, food, lifestyle and music.
My dream is to produce films that tell Indian stories to an audience across the world, in English or Indian languages; films that have a global sensibility with an Indian soul. My dream is to produce music with Indian melodies and talent, in English or Indian languages, which the world grooves to. My dream is to produce original digital programming that is truly world class because on platforms like YouTube and iTunes, the world is flat and it does not matter where the content is coming from. But before that, it’s the thought, the will and the belief that we are as good as anyone else in the world.
We have been looking inward for far too long, catering to the 1.2 billion domestic market and the 25 million diaspora. My dream may take a while to realize, but I have already already looked outward and moved out of my comfort zone to entertain, inspire and delight a global audience that is one click away!
Feedback: rajjat@rajshri.com
