It’s dial-a-movie time again as DVDs invade the city

mumbai: the silvery handy-dandy digital versatile disc (dvd) is altering the face of home entertainment. in a flash, uniformed boys on bicycles are delivering hot, new-' n'- old hollywood flicks as well as the sholays and silsilas, from malabar hill and colaba all the way to doorsteps at bandra and juhu-vile parle. fed up of those saas-bahu squabblefests on the telly? overdosed on yakking heads on news shows? exasperated by those fast-fading, fungus-infested video cassettes? not to scurry-worry.just dial-a-movie with dagger-sharp images, booming surround sound and a tab averaging rs 75 per pop from the neighbourhood dvd circulating library. over 25 video and laser disc outlets in the city have witnessed a reversal of fortunes, the sagging business revived by the techno-slick dvd which was introduced in the west in 1997 and has slowly but surely caught up in the desi market during the last two years. in the u.s., media reports are exulting that dvd players are populating households faster than any other home-electronics gear in history. a cover story in a recent issue of newsweek points out that last year, americans spent $4.2 billion assembling libraries of movies in this format which cost $15 to $25 apiece. indeed, hollywood has received a much-needed fillip with such techno-savvy marketing. despite a drop in income from theatrical and home video releases, global revenues for the american dream factory spiralled by $3.3 billion to nearly $30 billion last year, with dvds accounting for 60 per cent of the increase. reportedly cheaper to manufacture than vhs videotapes, dvds are more lucrative, netting hollywood studios $10 to $13 per copy. in india, dvd rights for feature films are mostly sold to overseas distributors and if there is a subsequent demand, marketed at home as well. the potential of the medium is still to be tapped seriously. to date, only a few local forays have been made and marketed tentatively. quick to switch into the now- mode, it's the circulating libraries which are making hay while the techno-sun shines. shemaroo at napean sea road, casablanca on carmichael road, sarvodaya at the tip of pali hill and teenage at colaba are among the prime players on the city's updated entertainment front. shakeel viam, customer service executive of shemaroo, points out that the library stocks more than 3,000 popular movie titles on dvd. of these, nearly 350 are circulated to members every day. by contrast, the demand for laser discs has dwindled to a meagre two or three, while about a hundred videotapes do the daily rounds. bakul chanderia of sarvodaya believes that dvds move faster because they're easy to carry and also because the picture quality is sharper''. video compact discs (vcds), he adds, did not make much of an impact because they are of inferior visual quality. the bootlegged market, however, is packed with pirated vcd copies which are sold at cut-rate prices. brand-new films from hollywood and mumbai are displayed by hole- in-the-wall stalls in shopping areas extending from fort to navi mumbai. kobad buchia, electronics dealer, asserts that dvd is still in a nascent state in the indian market. although prices have dipped, a dvd player costs rs 15,000 to rs 19,000. businessmen, doctors and diamond merchants may have switched from video to dvd,'' he says, but by and large, the dvd hardware is still way beyond the reach of the average viewer.'' finally, there remains the question of copyright: are libraries flouting rules by circulating movies, whatever be the format? inevitably seeking anonymity, a library owner states, we are working on this aspect. we are tying up with the major film production companies abroad to ensure that there are no legal glitches. if necessary, we will pay a certain amount of royalty to them.'' until the knots are tied up then, the boys on bicycles are more than likely to continue to deliver julia roberts and tom cruise, amitabh bachchan and aishwarya rai right to your doorstep.