Is bollywood serious about blu-ray???

[bd-lover]

Hi frnds,do u ppl really think that bollywood is serious about blu-ray releases as compared to hollywood.Why is so much delay in releasing films on bluray?.There are so many classics waiting for high defination treatment.Even lagaan was due in june,but still no signs!!!

[kskies2]

Originally Posted by bd-lover

Hi frnds,do u ppl really think that bollywood is serious about blu-ray releases as compared to hollywood.Why is so much delay in releasing films on bluray?.There are so many classics waiting for high defination treatment.Even lagaan was due in june,but still no signs!!!

Bollywood is obviously not serious about Blu-ray releases. I agree, so many classics remain to be released in HD. I don't know why there is this huge lack of interest amongst Indian studios for putting in the effort to release their most coveted movies on a superior format. It seems like they simply don't care. However, I am guessing Lagaan's release has been delayed? Not entirely sure.

[Harvey Dent]

The lack of interest amongst Indian studios may have to do with lack of interest amongst Indian consumers to buy blu rays. Dont think the concept HD has caught on enough in India and till that happens Indian studios will be happy churning out only VCDs and DVDs of movies

[toddly6666]

I love the title of this thread. It perfectly explains the Bollywood home video industry in just 5 words!

[anibap]

Originally Posted by Harvey Dent

The lack of interest amongst Indian studios may have to do with lack of interest amongst Indian consumers to buy blu rays. Dont think the concept HD has caught on enough in India and till that happens Indian studios will be happy churning out only VCDs and DVDs of movies

You are absolutely right. Awareness, interest and what it takes to get the best of HD has not penetrated well in India even with people who an afford.

I had a discussion with one of the premier authoring house owner and it seems the studios are not even able to achieve the break-even point in terms of selling Blu-rays let alone make any profit. Many studios have put on hold their BD authoring and release plan as it is not proving to be a good business model. People who are buying BDs are mostly NRIs and a set of people who can afford BDs in India.

I made this point sometime back that there must be a healthy economies of scale for a business to work and if the number of BDs sold per film is just around a couple of thousand, the studios are never going to make any money and hence for them there is no point to release BDs and make losses.

Consumers need to consume at a certain rate to create a demand and that can drive costs down and makes a proper business model for any enterprise. Unless that is happening, future of BD in India is quite bleak

BD's in India should not cost more than INR 400-500 for domestic customers and more people should buy otherwise the cost of production will be too high and sales will never be able to catchup and lead to profit.

It is a grim situation at the moment but I only hope that it is not going to stay like this for long. While we are not really liking this situation, at the end of the day it is a business for the studios and if they are not making any profit they have every reason to slow it down or shut it down.

We might see some odd releases but I have a feeling that things are not going to improve unless the cost of production and distribution can be brought down.

[kskies2]

Hasn't the price of producing Blu-rays gone down? If the movie can have good quality in theaters, why is it so expensive to transfer/author that same quality onto a BD?

[Harvey Dent]

Yeah I still feel that any movie featuring any of the biggies ( the three Khans, Hrithik and Akshay Kumar ), will eventually find a blu ray release. for other releases be satisfied with the DVD version. Of course all Yash raj movies will be released in blu ray. Funny that they have stopped releasing their catalogue titles. Whatever happened to Darr??

[Mr.Raamesh]

Actually with DVD adoption, the hardware was not a problem, Regular TVs did. But for HD people have to upgrade all of their hardware, which I believe is causing the delay in adoption.

[toddly6666]

And once again, Bollywood blu-rays will not succeed if they keep releasing fair and forgettable time-pass films on blu-ray. The current fair to poor catalog of Indian blu-rays explains why they haven't sold enough to make profit. I would understand that blu-ray is not selling in India if people weren't buying good films released on blu-ray. It is very simple - all the companies had to do was release the biggest Indian blockbuster and/or highest reviewed film from each year of the past 30 years. I guarantee that those 30 blu-rays would bring profit.

Akshay Kumar is not going to save the Bollywood blu-ray industry.

Indian home video companies choose to be ignorant. USA and England releases a well-respected classic from a certain year almost every week. And since USA and UK are at a different level than India, then I bring up China - a country that can be compared to India in terms of business. Every other new release from Hong Kong is also a well-respected classic. All India has to do is follow the pattern of every other country that releases blu-rays.

Complaining about the lack of Bollywood blu-ray profits is the same as complaining that an ice cream store is not making money in Antartica or a soup restaurant not making profit in the desert.

[here]

people who buy blu-rays if and only if they have full hd tv and a bd player. people who still use crt tv won't never believe blu-ray is better than dvd. and since the much cheaper piracy dvd can be reached easily, why buying an expensive blu-ray?
as long as much cheaper full hd tv can be ready in the market, much cheaper bd player can be ready in the market, then blu-ray market will fly, otherwise blu-ray would die in india.

[divyansh]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Akshay Kumar is not going to save the Bollywood blu-ray industry.

AGAIN AKSHAY KUMAR....how come you fit akshay kumar in all your replies whether he is needed or not!!! thinking about it is driving me crazy!!!

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by divyansh

AGAIN AKSHAY KUMAR....how come you fit akshay kumar in all your replies whether he is needed or not!!! thinking about it is driving me crazy!!!

Haha, sorry buddy. I want to repeat it to a point where one cant ever enjoy an ashkay kumar film! If i had time i would start an anti-kumar website!

On a serious note, Ashkay Kumar is a perfect representation of the the current state of the bollywood film & home video industry.

[divyansh]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Haha, sorry buddy. I want to repeat it to a point where one cant ever enjoy an ashkay kumar film! If i had time i would start an anti-kumar website!

On a serious note, Ashkay Kumar is a perfect representation of the the current state of the bollywood film & home video industry.

well dude its not your fault....when a person is going through a low phase...tuff times...the whole world is against him....but mark my words this man will surely proove himself and he does have potential and talent .....he is just being wasted ....and he is a better actor...than atleast salman khan.....(this does not mean that i like akshay's current movies)....but what ill say is wait and WATCH...! AND PLZZ make an anti akshay website....do whatever hell u wanna do....bt plzz keep away this non-sense from this forum...and read my post in some other 3D thread!!!!

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by divyansh

and read my post in some other 3D thread!!!!

Hi Divyansh, sorry..I didn't see your response in the other thread til today. Check it out. I gave you a long explanation!

[divyansh]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Hi Divyansh, sorry..I didn't see your response in the other thread til today. Check it out. I gave you a long explanation!

ok dude.....ive read it....its ok...but still whatever you say...there still is some difference.....maybe only 19-20 for you and 40-60 for me.....but still there is......we people even enjoy movies like singh is kinng.....only for one time....i laughed and lauged and enjoyed the movie a lot......if you would have asked me when i came out of theater i would have rated it 4.5/5...beacuse it was lot of entertainment with use of punjabi language...slangs and other things which only indians and punjabis would relate to...but now when i see the movie i find many belmishes in the story....i dont laugh on it anymore....the plot is not interesting any more.....this is only beacuse ive enjoyed it once and ill rate the movie 2.5/5 now.....and the difference comes here.....you would notice the difference.....you on your first watch will see all those plot holes blemishes etc and youll try to find a good story or acting from it and youll not enjoy that local punjabi comedy with your english sub titles and ull say the movie is uttter crap....why the hell these idiots made it such a huge hit.....NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE.....i also at the end of post will say movie was no where good....but because of me being an indian and punjabi.....it worked big time for me once.....it was so funny i was litrally in tears laughing and i didnt notced any thing else....and why me ....the whole croud at wave cinemas raja garden new delhi....!

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by divyansh

....it was so funny i was litrally in tears laughing and i didnt notced any thing else....and why me ....the whole croud at wave cinemas raja garden new delhi....!

And your point reminds me of another point - movies are most enjoyed with an audience. A bad movie or a comedy is certainly better in the theater with an audience rather than watching it at home by oneself (comedies are always better with other people watching). This great thing about watching a Bollywood movie in the theater is that it's a positive exciting event due to the enthusiasm of the audience. In the USA, the enthusiasm of watching a film in the theater has been clouded by worrying about paying a fortune for a ticket, getting seat kicked, people talking, home theaters being better than regular theaters, paying so much money for junk food, etc.

I had the same experience as you with comedies like Hangover, Paul, and Bridesmaids. I loved these comedies in the theater, but once I bought the DVD of Hangover, I didnt think it was as funny playing it for the second time in my house. I have now learned to control myself from buying comedies on bluray/dvd because most comedies are not so good the next time watching. The same goes for thrillers (Seven, Orphan, The Sixth Sense). These movies are pointless to buy on home video because they are both in genres that are best enjoyed the first time. I only buy comedies on bluray if they are really, really special to me.

But back to being disapppinted with Bollywood releases. Hypothetically, if I was some famous Indian film historian/critic and I just bought a blu-ray player, I would then proceed to research the blu-rays from India. I would discover that there are around 100 blu-rays that been made from Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu-speaking India, and that India has been producing blu-rays for the past 4 years. I would think, "hmmm, that's an impressive bluray catalog - I bet films of Mani Ratnam, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Satyajit Ray, Ram Gopla Verma, and Yash Chopra films look wonderful remastered onto bluray." And then I would scroll down the list of all the existing Indian blurays...."Hey Babyy, Dostana, Kites....hmmmm, okay, Paa, Fashion, Orange, Blue...what the? Where are the great films? Is this the correct list?"

[divyansh]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

And your point reminds me of another point - movies are most enjoyed with an audience. A bad movie or a comedy is certainly better in the theater with an audience rather than watching it at home by oneself (comedies are always better with other people watching). This great thing about watching a Bollywood movie in the theater is that it's a positive exciting event due to the enthusiasm of the audience. In the USA, the enthusiasm of watching a film in the theater has been clouded by worrying about paying a fortune for a ticket, getting seat kicked, people talking, home theaters being better than regular theaters, paying so much money for junk food, etc.

I had the same experience as you with comedies like Hangover, Paul, and Bridesmaids. I loved these comedies in the theater, but once I bought the DVD of Hangover, I didnt think it was as funny playing it for the second time in my house. I have now learned to control myself from buying comedies on bluray/dvd because most comedies are not so good the next time watching. The same goes for thrillers (Seven, Orphan, The Sixth Sense). These movies are pointless to buy on home video because they are both in genres that are best enjoyed the first time. I only buy comedies on bluray if they are really, really special to me.

But back to being disapppinted with Bollywood releases. Hypothetically, if I was some famous Indian film historian/critic and I just bought a blu-ray player, I would then proceed to research the blu-rays from India. I would discover that there are around 100 blu-rays that been made from Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu-speaking India, and that India has been producing blu-rays for the past 4 years. I would think, "hmmm, that's an impressive bluray catalog - I bet films of Mani Ratnam, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Satyajit Ray, Ram Gopla Verma, and Yash Chopra films look wonderful remastered onto bluray." And then I would scroll down the list of all the existing Indian blurays...."Hey Babyy, Dostana, Kites....hmmmm, okay, Paa, Fashion, Orange, Blue...what the? Where are the great films? Is this the correct list?"

finally a +1 from my side...
and yes you are right this time BUT dostana was pretty good movie to me ...but only a one time watch because of good music background score....ok script and fair performances........the same goes for heyy babyy.....some portions were very good some didnt worked....but fashion i would like to single out was not such a bad movie....it was quite good both performance wise and music and background score wise....(i admit....iam a salim sulaiman fan...btw have you watched SRK's rab ne bana di jodi by adi chopra......it was quite enjoyble with excellent music and good performance by srk and PQ was also fantastic!!)

[FreakMan]

Toddly while I agree with most of what u have said I disagree with you on Akshay saving the bollywood blu-rays. He may not be saving it but his films are supporting the format and keeping it alive. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't decide if all of his films release on blu-ray but the producers/distributers probally release his films because he has a huge fan base and because he is a very sellable actor and entertainer. I can respect the fact that you don't like him because every actor has their own lovers and haters but his films are definitely contributing to the blu-ray format.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by FreakMan

Toddly while I agree with most of what u have said I disagree with you on Akshay saving the bollywood blu-rays. He may not be saving it but his films are supporting the format and keeping it alive. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't decide if all of his films release on blu-ray but the producers/distributers probally release his films because he has a huge fan base and because he is a very sellable actor and entertainer. I can respect the fact that you don't like him because every actor has their own lovers and haters but his films are definitely contributing to the blu-ray format.

Ha, sorry but i didnt mean that. You misinterpreted me. I dont think Akshay kumar is saving anything. I meant that his superficial empty movies represent the majority of bollywood bluray releases (unrelated to the fact that he also appears in almost every other bollywood bluray release as well). If Ronald McDonald is the face of McDonalds, then Akshay Kumar is practically the face of bollywood bluray.

Either way, for every new bollywood bluray that comes out that either stars kumar or is the type of movie he would star in, a bluray release such as a Devdas-type epic film should be released the following week.

[Paap28]

I think its pointless waiting for the Bollywood film studios to release their catalogue of titles onto the format. Realistically can you imagine all the Bollywood movies that are out on DVD, not even 1/4 of them will make it onto Blu-ray. Maybe we should just accept this and just be content with their current releases or give up altogether.

DVD has been around for 11-12 years approx and in that time almost all Bollywood movies have been transfered and released onto that format. Blu-ray has been around for 4-5 years so far and the amount of Bollywood titles is shameful. Of course as mentioned already the studios wont bother if they are not going to be making a profit therefore you see that movies that flopped at the theatres dont get a blu-ray release when compared to Hollywood movies every small movie gets released on that format now along with documentaries and classic b/w movies.

I think the main problem lies with the advertising of the format to the India film audience, the jump from VHS to DVD was big and apparent there was no denying it, but if the only argument in this case is the picture and audio quality is better then most people are well off with their current DVD player, and Im guessing only the hardcore fans know anything about the aspect ratio etc. So I guess we cant keep blaming studios if demand would rise for Blu-rays from the Indian public then they'll release more but for now the studios believe that releasing their most profitable films on the format will make them some more profit.