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FILM WARS

Zee and Sony vie to buy the latest films to revive their sagging fortunes. India Today's Nidhi Taparia Rathi reports.

Of late, the staff at Zee Television hasn't had much to celebrate. The market leader of a few years ago has slipped far behind Star TV, even as Sony Entertainment Television is nipping at its heels. So when the channel decided to shell out a reported Rs 40 crore to buy 16 mint-fresh Hindi films, there was justifiable jubilation. Then last week, Sony announced its plans to telecast 10 new films bought for over Rs 50 crore and including hits like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Awaara Pagal Deewana and the still-running Deewangee. The euphoria at Zee came to an abrupt halt. The battlelines were drawn.

-Imitation is the best form of flattery,- says Apurva Purohit, president, Zee TV, laughing off Sony's move. It+s a laugh tinged with worry.

-Zee's move is no flash in the pan. We are in it for the long term, buying 10 more films for January-February, then again for March-April-June,- she says with a calm facade. Sony+s ceo Kunal Dasgupta is equally unruffled.

Buying more films is not a retaliatory move, he says. -We have been showing quality films since the beginning. We have bought our quota of films for this year and will have more films to show during the World Cup.- The composed responses belie the fact that stakes are high for both the channels which are vying for the second spot and gathering trps from the smaller channels in the fragmented cable television market. For Zee, it is a do-or-die move even though it pooh-poohs the risk it has undertaken by altering its programming pattern'using movies as a peg and starting its soaps on Sunday instead of Monday like other channels. Dasgupta thinks otherwise. -It is a risk that may not pay off. Watching a film does not necessarily ensure that viewers will tune in to serials as well. The two audiences are different.

The films may or may not accrue viewership but the channel war
has come as a boon for the producers and the film industry grappling with an unprecedented recession. -If I have not been able to make money through a theatre release then I have no option but to look at the avenue that promises me good returns,- says Ratan Jain of Venus Records who was the first to sell Humraaz to Zee and the rights of Hathyar even before the films release.

In fact, both Dasgupta and Purohit now have queues of producers willing to sell their wares at prices much less than a year ago. Though protest by distributors and exhibitors has forced a few like Yash Raj Films to rescind plans to sell the unreleased Saathiya to Zee, many others are defiant. Says Jain: -Today, most of a film+s business is over in 10 weeks. Films are shown on satellite channels four to six months after their release. As a producer, you have to think about the money these films will fetch in terms of satellite rights.

-Dasgupta, on the other hand, believes the channels are in a good position to bargain. -Kaante's producers are willing to show the film within four weeks of its release in December, but they are asking for an astronomical price and we are still negotiating. Now the producers don't want to stick to the one-year lock-in period. Channels are the latest cash cows as the industry reels under recession.- Komal Nahta, senior industry analyst, agrees. -If producers can sell a film within six months of release and get a Rs 50 lakh premium, why should they wait for a year?- he says. -But I don+t see the fad lasting very long. The viewers will soon get bored and want to return to the theatre.- Zee and Sony are not worrying about that yet. Zee has roped in eight or nine sponsors for the 16 film telecasts, each expected to spend Rs 20-30 lakh per film, procuring a revenue of Rs 2.3-2.7 crore for each movie. The split in ad revenues may be cause for concern but Dasgupta hopes advertisers will step in on all four days+Zee shows a film on Thursday, Sony on Friday, MAX and Star on Saturday and Star on Sunday.

The war may well have begun but the viewer isn+t complaining. After all, its not every day he is treated to latest movies with good prints, four days a week legally.

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