Another sign of Bollywood going slowly mainstream: More Bollywood movies to be available on video-on-demand in NYC and New Jersey (because most folks in Manhattan don't have all the satellite choices available to suburbanites, this is a major development). Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com, who's working on the PR for this, tell us that several major movies will soon be inside your cable box.
Among the movies that will soon be available:
- "Krrish," India's biggest grossing film of 2006
- "Rang De Basanti," India's official entry for the next Oscar campaign
Quote from Harriet Novet of Time Warner Cable of New York & New Jersey:
“As of November 1st, we expanded our selection of Bollywood and South Asian movies as the audience has dramatically grown,” stated Harriet Novet, Vice President, Public Affairs, Time Warner Cable of New York & New Jersey.
I wrote to SAJAer and entertainment writer Aseem Chhabra, seeking a reaction to this and here's what he had to say:
I was at home a couple of weeks ago, in the middle of day, watching CNN and suddenly I heard Aamir Khan's voice. I looked up and saw a commercial for Movies On Demand, announcing that Rang De Basanti was now available for a price of $3.95, just by a click of button. There were a couple of quick cuts from RDB, but enough to give one a flavor
of one of the top Bollywood films of this year.It is hard to describe the feeling -- when suddenly in between Wolf Blitzer's commentary on the war in Iraq we get a brief glimpse of Aamir and images from RDB.
Can I say we (as in desis) have finally made it in the US? Well, we are certainly a lot more visible.
This is tremendous news for Bollywood lovers and other international movie fans. And it is a great mix of films -- Bluffmaster, Swades and even 15 Park Avenue -- which very few desis have seen.
See the full press release below from Time Warner Cable and BODVOD.com.
Aslo see SAJAforum's interview with Gitesh Pandya and Aseem Chhabra: "Bollywood Raises Its Profile in the U.S."
[POSTED BY SREE SREENIVASAN]
For more information, contact:
Gitesh Pandya: gpandya[at]boxofficeguru.com
Suzanne Giuliani:
suzanne.giuliani[at]twcable.com
BODVOD AND TIME WARNER CABLE OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY
CELEBRATE A RECORD YEAR FOR
BOLLYWOOD
[New York, NY, November 7, 2006] It has been a breakout year for Bollywood movies in America as a record
number of Indian films have reached blockbuster status in 2006. Now, BODVOD and Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey celebrate
the booming popularity of these films by bringing the newest hits to customers through
Video On Demand.
After two years of steady growth, with monthly transactions
jumping 150% from 2005, BODVOD has now signed content deals with two of Bollywood’s largest studios – UTV and Adlabs – and will be the exclusive video-on-demand
supplier of their blockbuster hits across the United States. All films will be subtitled in English.
For the first time in history, Bollywood
fans will be able to watch India’s official submission to the Academy Awards on-demand in their
own homes even before Oscar members get a chance to vote on it. This year’s entry, UTV’s critically
acclaimed smash Rang de Basanti,
premieres on Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey in
November.
“We are extremely delighted that Rang de Basanti will be available on VOD in the United States,” says
the film’s director Rakeysh Mehra. “This means that people who might
have missed it in theaters will have the chance to see the film at their
convenience in the comfort of their own home. It significantly helps us with our Oscar
campaign by reaching beyond the South Asian community.
India’s highest-grossing film of 2006, the Adlabs sci-fi action thriller Krrish, will also make its on-demand premiere when it debuts on December 8. Shot in Singapore, the groundbreaking special effects in the Hrithik Roshan smash have made it Bollywood’s first super hero blockbuster.
Other hit titles include:
- Bluffmaster starring Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra in the story of a conman who risks losing the love of his life when his past catches up with him. Now available.
- Swades starring Bollywood’s reigning box office sensation Shah Rukh Khan who teams up with the acclaimed director of
the Oscar-nominated hit Lagaan. Premieres in November.
- 15 Park Ave starring Shabana Azmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Rahul Bose in a powerful Calcutta-set drama that played to critical acclaim at numerous international film festivals. Premieres in December.
- Taxi No. 9211 starring John Abraham (Water) in a fast-paced comic thriller about a businessman and a taxi driver whose lives are turned upside down in a 24-hour period. Premieres in December.
The hits keep coming in early 2007 with the much-anticipated premieres of Shah Rukh Khan’s action blockbuster Don, the New York-set comedy Jaan-E-Mann, and the epic Moghul-era romance Umrao Jaan starring Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.
“As of November 1st, we expanded our selection
of Bollywood and South Asian movies as the audience
has dramatically grown,” stated Harriet Novet,
Vice President, Public Affairs, Time Warner Cable of
New York & New Jersey. “We continue to lead the industry in product and service
innovation. Creating a separate On
Demand platform to showcase films from around the world is another means of
connecting people more closely with their culture right from the comfort of
home in the New York City
metropolitan area.”
Time Warner Cable digital customers have the opportunity of
choosing to view titles by simply tuning to International Movies On Demand (IMOD) Channel 500. Each title may be viewed at any time.
Each order is just $3.95 for unlimited access within 24 hours. Viewers can pause,
fast forward and rewind right from their remote controls for the ultimate in convenience. Films on
IMOD can be accessed by categories including Bollywood,
Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.
BODVOD (www.bodvod.com) was created in 2004 to acquire, package, market and distribute "Bollywood" and other South Asian films, TV shows and music on all on-demand media platforms. BODVOD was the first video on demand (VOD) service offering Bollywood and South Asian content via a national footprint on cable, broadband and mobile through over 30 major distribution partners such as Time Warner, Cox, Google Video, Akimbo, Guba and others. The BODVOD team consists of media veterans with experience in content licensing, programming, retail products, marketing and distribution. BODVOD is headquartered in New York, NY and is a partnership of [212]MEDIA and Schramm Sports and Entertainment.
About Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey
Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey serves over 1.4
million customers in four NYC boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and
western Brooklyn), Mt. Vernon, Hudson Valley (Orange, Sullivan, Ulster Counties
and parts of Dutchess, Greene and Delaware Counties)
and Bergen and Hudson Counties, New Jersey.
Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey has led the
telecommunications industry in bringing exciting, innovative services to
customers including digital phone, high speed internet access through four
ISPs, digital video recorders and Video On
Demand. Visit timewarnercable.com/nynj
Our parent company, Time Warner Cable owns and manages cable systems
serving 14.4 million subscribers in 33 states. Passing approximately 28 million
homes, Time Warner Cable includes some of the most technologically advanced and
best-clustered cable systems in the country, with nearly 85 percent of the
Company's customers
located in five geographic regions: New York, Texas, Ohio, the Carolinas and
southern California.
Leveraging its leadership in innovation and quality customer care, Time Warner
Cable delivers advanced products and services such as video on demand, high
definition television, digital video recorders, high-speed data and Digital
Phone. Time Warner Cable is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX).
