In the US, the largest market for both Bollywood and non-Bollywood content, there are about 200,000 Indian millionaires, with some 15 per cent of Silicon Valley start-ups believed to be owned by Indians, according to a report by JPMorgan. UTV, informs Kapur, will look to target the overseas customers first with its digital offering.
Filmed entertainment executives have only to look at the music industry to see the dangers of insufficient action - take digital piracy seriously or lose billions as well as fundamental control of the value chain.
Barjatya probably read the warning signals in 2006. He released Rajshri's film Vivah online back in 2006 expanding his distribution for the 25 million Indians spread across the globe.
"Physically reaching so many people is not possible and yet these are affluent NRI households with an appetite for Indian cinema. So, the Internet is the best medium to supply cinema as close to 51 per cent of NRI households have broadband access," mentions Barjatya.
Image: A vendor sells latest Bollywood movies, at a street in Rawalpindi | Photograph: Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images
Also read:
World's 10 most expensive watches
Advertisement
