Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Bollywood's gonna Kazaa you!
It was last month that Kazaa announced its plan to sell the Hindi film, Supari to its users for $2.99 a pop, becoming the first movie to be legally available on the file-sharing network. I did wonder at the time how on earth a Bollywood crew could understand the direction technology and the Internet are leading the entertainment industry to earlier than any studio in Hollywood.
But now comes this report which suggests that Bollywood may have this figured out even better than I assumed.
India's film makers are offering Internet movie downloads on web site Kazaa in a move that could lower costs and boost revenues in Bollywood, the world's most prolific film production center.Some 35 producers will be able to sell movies using Kazaa, a file-sharing program owned by Australia's Sharman Networks, according to company statement.
"In a distribution deal struck between Sharman's partner Altnet, Inc...and IndiaFM.com, one of the most popular Bollywood entertainment sites, Kazaa's estimated 60 million global users will gain access to previously unavailable content," the statement said.
Since fast broadband connections aren't yet available to consumers in India, these movies are clearly aimed at the non-resident population in the west and are also a very long-term bet in terms of profitability. Nevertheless, it remains interesting that Bollywood has figured out a distribution mechanism far earlier than their western counterparts.
But now comes this report which suggests that Bollywood may have this figured out even better than I assumed.
India's film makers are offering Internet movie downloads on web site Kazaa in a move that could lower costs and boost revenues in Bollywood, the world's most prolific film production center.Some 35 producers will be able to sell movies using Kazaa, a file-sharing program owned by Australia's Sharman Networks, according to company statement.
"In a distribution deal struck between Sharman's partner Altnet, Inc...and IndiaFM.com, one of the most popular Bollywood entertainment sites, Kazaa's estimated 60 million global users will gain access to previously unavailable content," the statement said.
Since fast broadband connections aren't yet available to consumers in India, these movies are clearly aimed at the non-resident population in the west and are also a very long-term bet in terms of profitability. Nevertheless, it remains interesting that Bollywood has figured out a distribution mechanism far earlier than their western counterparts.
