The film, which has played in eleven international film festivals, will open on Indian cinema screens tomorrow, March 16, and on the same day become available on demand through the Mela service worldwide. Previously, Mela have released Bollywood horror film Ghost (review here), and the wonderful little indie Good Night | Good Morning (review here) in the same manner, but this formal initiative is hopefully the sign of more independent features gaining wider availability.
Chaurahen, starring Soha Ali Khan, Keira Chaplin (yes that Chaplin), and Zeenat Aman, will be available on Mela's iPad app, set-top box, and Roku app tomorrow, at the same time as Indian theaters. This is a trend I can get behind. Mela's service is inexpensive, and invaluable for fans of Indian films, I use it a lot. Mela have put together an extensive press release, which I will post below, though the main details are here in the text.
The main goal, of course, is to get films to viewers, however, there is a very important secondary goal here as well, piracy prevention. Piracy of Indian films is rampant, both inside of India and among the Indian diaspora. I can go to my local Indian grocers on a Saturday morning and buy a DVD-R of that Friday's new releases for $2 each. Hopefully Mela's service will put a dent in that business, which certainly hurts the little guys more than the big ones. This is worth supporting for that reason alone, in my opinion.
Mela Becomes the First‐Ever Global Online Service to Release New Bollywood Movies Simultaneous To Their Theatrical Releases
Chaurahen releases worldwide on Mela on March 16th simultaneous to its theatrical release in India
Santa Clara, CA, March 12, 2012: Mela, a global multi-platform consumer entertainment service with one of the largest aggregations of premium South Asian content, today announced the launch of First Day First Show, an initiative under which it will release new Bollywood movies in international markets simultaneous to their theatrical releases in India. Bollywood movie fans outside of India will now be able to enjoy new movies from the comfort of their living rooms no matter where they are located in the world.
Mela is the first-ever major Bollywood movie service in the world to launch such an initiative. Bollywood is the most prolific movie industry in the world, releasing more than three times as many movies per year as Hollywood, its more popular rival. Despite its global popularity, Hollywood has yet failed to simultaneously release new movies in every country in the world.
Mela is announcing the formal launch of its First Day, First Show initiative with the simultaneous global release of the award-winning and multi-starring Bollywood film Chaurahen. The film will release globally on all Mela platforms - the Mela Bollywood movies channel on Roku, the Mela app on iPad and the Mela High Definition set top box on Friday, March 16. The film is being released the same day in theatres in India by its local distributer, Priya Village Roadshow (PVR).
Chaurahen (Crossroads), a film directed by Rajshree Ojha, who previously directed Aisha, in addition to two other popular specialty projects, boasts an impressive ensemble cast that includes Soha Ali Khan, Victor Banerjee, veteran Bollywood actress Zeenat Aman, and Kiera Chaplin, granddaughter of the silent
film superstar Charlie Chaplin. The film is an adaptation of short stories by celebrated author Nirmal Verma. Ojha describes the three vignettes that comprise Chaurahen as "snippets of collected photographs, bringing together similar disconnected people trying to find their path." Originally completed in 2007, Chaurahen went on to screen at 11 international film festivals before securing theatrical distribution in India by PVR Cinema and global online distribution by Mela.
Chaurahen is not the first Bollywood movie to make its international distribution debut on Mela's global platform simultaneous to its theatrical release in India. Mela earlier released Puja Jatinder Bedi's Ghost and Sudish Kamath's Good Night Good Morning. The performance of these two smaller budget titles convinced Ojha of the effectiveness of Mela's global distribution platform. "The quality of the Mela service, engagement of its audience, and the global reach of its platform will appeal to any content owner looking for a highly effective global distribution platform," expressed Ojha. After an arduous process to seek adequate distribution, she is optimistic that simultaneous worldwide release of the film through Mela will bring her already acclaimed film to an even broader global audience.
Sab Kanaujia, the General Manager of Mela, commented, "Mela is proud to become the first entertainment service to provide Bollywood producers and studios arguably the most effective global distribution platform. Now, quality content can reach its fans immediately, no matter where they are in the world. We are excited to acquire Chaurahen. While we are starting with mid- to small budget movies under this initiative, we are confident that over time we will be able to acquire big-budget movies by demonstrating the value of our distribution platform."
Almost fifty percent of new Bollywood movies released in India every year do not get a simultaneous theatrical release in international markets due to various reasons. Limited number of available screens for releasing niche content and high traditional distribution and marketing cost are the main reasons why many Bollywood movies after releasing in India do not reach their global fans. As a result, rampant piracy has taken root in international markets to meet the growing demand of ardent fans who don't want to wait until official DVDs are released several weeks or months after a new movie's theatrical release in India. Additionally, cheap, pirated DVDs, available within days of a movie's theatrical release in India, have almost killed the home box office market because the price of official DVDs has remained very high comparatively.
Mela has been working with various producers and studios in India to ensure that a wide selection of films can leverage its global distribution platform and provide Mela subscribes a high-quality movie watching experience when the demand is the highest. Content owners will, for the first time, be able to distribute and monetize their content on a worldwide basis from day one. Fans will have a very compelling, legal alternative to enjoy new Bollywood movies in a high quality that was previously unavailable to them.