Page 145 - From Bombay to Bollywoord The Making of a Global Media Industri

132 << Dot-Coms and the Making of an Overseas Territory

in November 2003, dubbed “CineMint: A Fresh Look at Film Marketing,”
focused on the theme of “making and marketing Indian content to over-
43
seas markets.” Chaired by Shravan Shroff, the thirty-four-year old CEO
of Shringar Cinemas Ltd. who is credited with ushering in the “multiplex
revolution” in Bombay, the conference brought together producers, direc-
tors, and media executives from film and television companies in Bombay
in an effort to “brainstorm with international marketing experts, and look
at case studies of movies successfully marketed globally to pick up lessons
44
and insights.” Dot-com companies used such events to further reinforce
the idea that web marketing would play an important role in targeting
NRI audiences worldwide. “Some filmmakers get this,” remarked Omar
Qureshi of movies.indiatimes.com. “If you want to get NRIs interested in
your film, how do you do it? You go online and generate buzz. NRIs use
the Web a lot, they’re used to Hollywood, and they have certain standards,”
he explained. Echoing the many articles in business and current affairs
magazines that provided “tips from marketers in the know about overseas
Indians,” Mobhani too asserted that web promotions were what NRIs, who
had been exposed to “global brands and service standards,” expected. As he
understood it, “for NRIs, Bollywood is important, but it is also important
to recognize that Bollywood is part of a larger entertainment environment.
Especially when you think about youngsters, they have grown up with
Tom Cruise and Shahrukh Khan. So for this audience, we have to speak a
45
language they get.” In fact, by 2003–04, this line of reasoning was being
employed by producers, directors, stars, and publicity and marketing exec-
utives across Bombay. Explaining the film industry’s interest in using the
Web as a platform to “tap NRIs,” Rajesh Sawhney, CEO of indiatimes.com,
reiterated Qureshi and Mobhani’s observations and the larger goal of adapt-
ing Hollywood’s “best practices” in Bollywood:

Although a new concept in India, online movie trailers have been widely
used abroad. For instance, in the U.S.—which has the biggest film industry
of the world—68 percent of moviegoers do not generally watch a movie
unless they have seen a trailer. And 85 percent of those who prefer to watch
trailers to decide which movie to watch, watch movie trailers online. 46

Such characterizations of the activities of overseas audiences circulated
widely in trade and press coverage of the film industry’s forays into over-
seas markets, particularly the United States and the U.K., and also served to
demonstrate to the film industry the value of working with dot-com compa-
nies. Simply put, it was about “turf marking,” of establishing their presence