Entertainment industry hopes to cash in on Cannes

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: It''s the first attempt by the Indian entertainment industry to put itself on the world map. A group of Indian filmmakers will travel this year to the Cannes film festival, the largest trade bazaar of the global entertainment industry, to woo international buyers and audiences by promoting Indian cinema.<br /><br />Until now, only a few market savvy filmmakers and the Indian government have attempted to exploit business opportunities and create awareness about Indian cinema at the festival.<br /><br />But this year, ten entertainment companies—including producer Bobby Bedi''s Kaleidoscope, actor Suniel Shetty''s Popcorn Entertainment, Ramoji Rao Film City and the Goa tourism ministry —have booked booths at the festival.<br /><br />To bring them under one roof, the Confederation of Indian Industries has booked an Indian pavilion.A publicist has also been hired to lend a professional touch to the promotion campaign.<br /><br />"There is a huge demand for Indian content in the global market, especially Europe and the US," said Biren Ghose, chairperson of CII''s media and infotainment cell.<br /><br />He said that the Indian entertainment industry was emerging as the biggest exports sector after the software industry.<br /><br />He said that a focussed promotion campaign was needed for at least three to five years to build the industry''s image as a global content provider and India as a hot destination for film productions.<br /><br />As a part of its campaign, CII has short-listed five major international film festivals, including the Cannes, which it plans to exploit for business opportunities every year.<br /><br />Early this year, it took a delegation of Indian filmmakers to the American Film Festival at Santa Monica where the delegates met representatives of two major Hollywood studios.With the traditional revenue-generating models like the box office undergoing a change, filmmakers are being forced to explore new territories, said Sanjeev Agarwal of Ernst & Young, which had prepared a report on the entertainment industry for CII. Moreover, Indian filmmakers are looking at joint ventures with Hollywood studios to market their films more effectively.<br /><br />Not to be outdone, eight Indian television companies, including Balaji Telefilms and United Television, sent delegates to the global television conference at Cannes earlier this year. Several American and Canadian firms expressed interest in co-productions, said Rajesh Pavitran, chief operating officer at Balaji Telefilms.<br /><br />At the Cannes festival this year, producer Bobby Bedi will promote three of his projects— Vishal Bhardwaj''s ‘<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Mian Maqbool</span>'', Ketan Mehta''s bilingual ‘<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Rising</span>'' starring Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai, and Oscar-winning director Roger Christian''s ‘<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Helpline</span>''. "Cannes is one platform where anything from a finished project to an idea can be sold," explained Mr Bedi.<br /><br />He said most cinema-producing nations with an eye on the international market like China and Hong Kong, have promoted their films at the festival.</div> </div>