When Vikay Kandeth arrived at the premiere of the Bollywood film Chandni Chowk to China at a Toronto AMC theatre in January, he noticed something unusual. “I saw a lot of non-South Asians there,” says Kandeth, an account director at Crimson Advertising, a multicultural ad agency with clients such as Rogers and Scotiabank. “I suspect it is curiosity that is bringing them out.”
That curiosity may have been sparked by the global success of Slumdog Millionaire, which won this year’s Best Picture Oscar for its rags-to-riches story of an 18-year-old orphan who wins big on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The Danny Boyle-directed film has grossed more than $100 million at the North American box office, with an impressive $10 million-plus of that coming from Canadian ticket sales.
While Slumdog Millionaire was filmed in Mumbai and included local Indian talent, it isn’t a Bollywood film (it’s a U.K. production). It also isn’t your typical Bollywood picture—which is to say, the film is not family-friendly escapism. “In India, Bollywood films provide an escape from the daily grind,” explains Shree Paradkar, editor of Desi Life magazine. “For South Asians living in Canada, it romanticizes the idea of back home, with song, dance and happiness.”
Yet the crossover appeal of Slumdog has turned mainstream attention to Bollywood, an industry that churns out at least 800 movies per year, far more than Hollywood. “I have major clients who have given me a mandate that says: ‘Get me into this Bollywood thing,’ ” says Kandeth. And marketers are attempting to do just that, from cinema ads to product placement, banking Bollywood movies are a mass vehicle to reach the country’s growing South Asian population, regardless of age, gender and other demographic characteristics.
Cineplex Odeon and AMC Theatres now play Bollywood pictures. And at two Bollywood-only theatres owned by Golden Theatres in the Toronto area, corporate business (mostly in the way of cinema ads) has risen an impressive 35% versus this time a year ago, says Farzan Dehmoubed, president of Golden Eye Media, which is the media planning and buying division of Golden Theatres. Golden Eye’s largest screen can seat about 750 people and on many nights, almost every seat is filled. “Audiences come out with their families and friends, so tickets tend to be bought in packs of five, 10 and 15,” says Dehmoubed. “It’s like an all-ages event. People go to Bollywood movies for the atmosphere.”
He says advertisers also like the fact they can run their ads during intermission—Bollywood movies are usually about three hours long—and the audience understands English, making it easy for clients to adapt their creative. In fact, 90% of the cinema ads are in English, says Dehmoubed. “Walmart recently ran an ad in English, but it featured a South Asian family recently immigrated to Canada, so the audience could relate.”
Scotiabank buys in-cinema advertising on Bollywood films screened at Golden Eye Theatres as well as Cineplex. Kim Moseley, Scotiabank’s director of local markets and employee recognition, says Bollywood is truly a part of South Asian culture. She says advertising in a medium South Asians are comfortable and familiar with just makes sense. “It is an important part of their culture; [it’s] how they even meet up with family,” says Moseley. “We [remain] very interested in Bollywood cinema.”
Bollywood is also a hit on the small screen, where virtually every advertising category (even trade schools) advertise on OMNI’s South Asian Bollywood Freetime Movie broadcast, says Jacquie Hood, manager, sales development, Rogers TV Sales. No wonder: The Sunday afternoon broadcast is OMNI’s most-watched program, with 608,000 people tuning in every month (a Saturday broadcast nets another 308,000 a month). “Everyone gets together and watches as a family, which is something the traditional Canadian culture doesn’t do so much,” says Hood.
While more Caucasians are becoming fans of the genre, the real impact of Slumdog is the fact its popularity has legitimized the movies in the eyes of young South Asian Canadians. “What movies like Slumdog Millionaire have done for second- and third-generation South Asians is say, ‘Hey, my culture is cool,’ ” says Jatinder Rai, general manager of Response Advertising, which helps clients like Telus reach South Asians. “Once that happened, these generations who maybe have never been to India are trying to embrace, understand and be a part of that culture.”
For its part, Telus aimed to appeal to multi-generations by integrating one of its smart phones, the Blackberry Curve, into a Bollywood picture. In Jag Jeondeyan De Mele, which premiered in 13 theatres across Canada in February, the Blackberry Curve is deserving of a supporting player credit: the film’s main character is seen purchasing the device, and even using some of its features including its built-in GPS.
“The film shows the character coming across to Canada, so first-generation South Asians can relate to it,” says Preet Dhillon, manager of consumer marketing at Telus. “For the second and third generations, the movie’s singing and fashion is what they’ll gravitate to. They’re getting back to their cultural roots, and we’re also seeing that trend in other multicultural groups like the Chinese.”
Telus struck the deal with Vancouver-based producer/promoter Music Waves, which it had worked with in sponsoring Mitti Wajan Mardi, released in September 2007. “We had over 250,000 people who watched it during the 13-week run,” says Dhillon. “We are expecting an even larger audience with this new movie because Bollywood has a larger following now.”
Don’t expect Telus to be the last marketer to place one of its products in Bollywood films. Increasingly, Bollywood producers in India recognize a significant part of its audience live overseas, which is why many movies like Jag Jeondeyan De Mele are filmed in India as well as another country. For its part, the Canadian government is encouraging Bollywood movies to be shot in Canada with tax incentives. In other words, expect Bollywood to be big, long after Slumdog Millionaire is gone from theatres.
