Russia is a Big Film Market for Bollywood, Reliance Entertainment's Overseas Head Says

After a fully booked special screening of the Indian blockbuster movie 'Radhe Shyam' in Russia, several other Indian film studios and overseas distributors are looking at exploring opportunities to release blockbuster hit movies dubbed into Russian.

The Russian Film Industry is once again trying to bring the craze for Bollywood movies back with the release of blockbuster hits, amid Western sanctions on screening their films and shows.

Reliance Entertainment’s Overseas Business Head, Dhruv Sinha, tells Sputnik that since foreign films account for 75 percent of the Russian Box Office and amid the ban from the West, Indian cinema and Bollywood are all eyes to cash in on the opportunity by taking over big screens with blockbuster hit movies.

Sputnik: The Russian film industry has decided to screen Bollywood blockbuster hits amid sanctions from the West due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Do you think it’s a great opportunity for the Bollywood and Indian cinema at large to revive the same craze it used to have during the 1950-80s?

Dhruv Sinha: There is a very big potential market for Indian movies in Russia because back in the 1950s, when Russia was the USSR, Russian cinemas had put an embargo on the release of movies and shows from the West. This made space for Bollywood films, which had become a rage at that time.

Indian actors like Raj Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Rajesh Khanna and others garnered a great fan following in Russia as their movies like ‘Awaara’ aka ‘The Vagabond’ (1951), ‘Shree 420’ (1955), and ‘Disco Dancer’ (1982), attracted full houses. People got hooked on singing ‘Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja’, and dancing to ‘I am a Disco Dancer’ as well as many other popular hit numbers from the movies.

However, when the USSR became Russia in 1991 and movies and shows from the West started being released, the craze for Bollywood movies fizzled out.

It is a similar situation now, amid the political conflict between countries during the ongoing war and sanctions from the West on releasing their movies; Bollywood films are now getting screens in Russian cinemas. In such a situation, Bollywood filmmakers can make the most of it and mint money.

Sputnik: Have you been approached by the Russian overseas movie distributors and production houses for collaboration?

Dhruv: Yes, I was approached by two different parties last week for the dubbing and release of our superhit movies ‘Sooryavanshi’ and ‘83’ in Russia.

We are in talks with the people from Russia’s film industry and I’ll be sharing the entire library of recent blockbuster movies with them. They will get back to us with the confirmation on the films they would like to release in their cinemas.

But the whole process will take time as we want to release the movie dubbed into Russian, which is a lengthy process and might take a month or two.

Sputnik: Why did the popularity of Bollywood movies in Russia decline?

Dhruv: There were many reasons. When the USSR became Russia, Hollywood films started getting released and they were larger than life as compared to our Bollywood movies back then. People were spellbound by the razzmatazz of the Hollywood feature film.

Moreover, because of their physical resemblance to Western actors, people in Russia started watching more American films, which naturally overtook Bollywood.

Sputnik: Do you think with the release of Bollywood blockbusters in Russia, the same craze for Indian cinema will re-emerge that happened back in the 1950s-1980s?

Dhruv: There is always a possibility and we hope people’s love of Indian cinema gets revived once again in Russia and remains for a longer time. If a good film that has traction is released, it will have more possibilities.

Culturally, India and Russia may be the greatest of friends and have similar political outlooks but to say that the audience will go and watch Indian movies is too hypothetical.

To recreate the same Bollywood craze will take time and it will differ from movie to movie and actor to actor.

For instance, in China, no actor’s movie does as well at the box office as superstar Amir Khan as he has a great fan following there.

Another movie ‘Andhadhun’, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu and Radhika Apte, was released as ‘The Piano Player’ in English and did phenomenal business in China. Nobody knew the actors but the content was so good that it went on to make good business overseas.

Similarly, in Russian cinemas, we’ll have to see what works best. Whether people go by the star power or the kind of content they enjoy watching the most.

While some Indian movies will get substantial business in Russia, some might not work and that totally depends on people’s choice.

Sputnik: Do you think Bollywood can replace Hollywood?

Dhruv: No, we should not be delusioned about the prospects of Indian cinema and Bollywood movies replacing Hollywood production in Russian cinemas. When the political situation stabilises, the Western movies will return to Russia and people will go back to watching Hollywood movies once again.